July 30, 2008
Parents who've been worried about the safety of synthetic athletic fields can breathe a little easier. A staff report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) finds that young children are not at risk from exposure to lead in synthetic turf.
The evaluation showed that newer fields had no lead or generally had the lowest lead levels. Although small amounts of lead were detected on the surface of some older fields, none of these tested fields released amounts of lead that would be harmful to children, the CPSC report said.
Lead is present in the pigments of some synthetic turf products to give the turf its various colors, just as it is used to brighten the paint on many toys and countless other commercial products.
The CPSC report cautioned that some conditions such as age, weathering, exposure to sunlight, and wear and tear might change the amount of lead that could be released over time and said that small pieces of lead-containing synthetic grass fibers could be released over time.
Particles on a child's hand could be transferred to the child's mouth but despite that, the CPSC staff said it determined that young children would not be at risk of harmful levels of lead ingestion.
"As an overall guideline," the report concluded, "CPSC staff recommends young children wash their hands after playing outside, especially before eating."
The report called for the adoption of voluntary standards to prevent the use of lead in future products.
