Growing concern about artificial turf and whether the material in it could pose a health threat to children has parents on Long Island calling for new testing and stricter standards.
Parents are concerned about what's being added to the artificial grass -- something called crumb rubber, which is made from scrapped, recycled tires like the ones found on a standard vehicle.
"Recently there have been some concerns about the infill and what potential health hazards could be associated with it," said Flavio Ferri, COO of Globall Sports Centers in Garden City, who's been getting more questions from parents about the safety of the fields.
Globall Sports Centers opted to build synthetic fields without crumb rubber, but general concern about artificial turf remains.
Crumb rubber turf became popular in the 2000s for giving the field more bounce and helping prevent serious injuries, according to NBC News, which did a series of reports on the turf concerns, but recent anecdotal links between athletes playing on those fields and some illnesses have raised concerns.
Doctor of internal medicine Ken Spaeth said there has to be a more comprehensive study.
"What we're not sure sure about is how these might get into the body and if they do pose a risk," said Spaeth, who works at North Shore LIJ.
Local
Ferri agrees.
"Especially with the magnitude, the amount of fields out there, the amount of kids and adults playing on it," he said. "I play on it. I coach on it. And so I'm out there as well, so I don't see why more testing wouldn't be done. I don't see a reason not do more testing."
Long Island congressman Steve Israel has sent a letter to the EPA asking for more thorough testing on crumb rubber immediately.
"One thing we're learning is that we do not know for sure that the 11,000 turf fields in North America are as safe as possible, and the EPA doesn't even know for sure," said Israel.
The EPA tested four different fields in four different states and told NBC 4 New York Tuesday it will review Israel's letter.
The Synthetic Turf Council points to the findings of 60 technical studies and reports by independent organizations over the years, which find "no negative health effects associated with crumb rubber in synthetic turf."
A recent NBC News investigation found no agreement over whether crumb turf had ill effects on young athletes, or even whether the product had been sufficiently tested.
