The media continued to hammer away on safety concerns focusing on synthetic turf sports fields. While most of the news articles repeated and enlarged upon what has been reported previously, several new developments arose in relation to the finding of unsafe levels of lead in two older synthetic fields in New Jersey.

For example, Newsday reported on April 30 that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will investigate synthetic turf after state lawmakers raised concerns about potentially toxic and carcinogenic components — such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and zinc —- in the rubber crumbs that cushion the fields. Some fear that the chemicals may leach into groundwater or vaporize into inhalable gases.

And, one state assemblyman, Steve Englebright has sponsored a bill calling for a 6-month moratorium on the turf until the review is completed.

Meanwhile, The U.S. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), responding to a request by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, has agreed to study the impact of synthetic turf on health and the environment, reported LegalNewsline.com, May 4.

“Such potential health risks are national in scope," DeLauro and Blumenthal said April 28 in a joint letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, in which they estimated there are 3,500 such fields currently in use nationally.

"The EPA should complete this research as quickly as possible because the health risks are potentially urgent as children play every day on these fields across America, and communities make profoundly far-reaching decisions about building new ones," the two said in a statement.

Connecticut has been a hotbed of controversy over the installation of synthetic turf sports fields, much it resulting from a study by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in 2007 that detected the “outgassing” of toxic volatile chemicals from the crumb rubber used as infill in the fields. The discovery of lead chromate in the fibers of two older synthetic fields in New Jersey added fuel to the controversy.

“Turf is creating a clamor of questions that must be addressed,” Blumenthal said in the statement.

The synthetic turf industry has been vigorous in the defense of its protects, with industry group Synthetic Turf Council taking the lead in asserting the safety of the latest generation of synthetic sports surfaces.

Below are links to the most recent articles on controversies swirling around synthetic sports fields:

“Environmental impact of synthetic turf to be studied,” Newsday, April 30

"EPA accepts Blumenthal's request to study artificial turf," LegalNewsline.com, May 4

“Another Call for Federal Turf Review,” Westport News,  May 2

"Turf-risk studies begin as health questions loom," Newsday, May 3

"Experts Agree There is  No Scientific Evidence of Health Risks in New Jersey Synthetic Turf Fields,” Synthetic Turf Council, April 21

"STC Statement in Response to Lead in NJ Fields,” Synthetic Turf Council, April 20