Study Called ‘Deceptive’—

Council Chairman, Attorney General Call For Better Info On Artificial Turf

By John Voket

Newtown’s Legislative Council Chairman Will Rodgers is hoping new developments in an ongoing controversy over the possible toxic effects of artificial turf will be better clarified before the town spends millions on two planned installations. Currently, Newtown’s Parks & Recreation Department is about to release a request for bids on an artificial turf field for Dickinson Park, and the school district currently has a artificial high school stadium field replacement as an alternate to its multimillion-dollar expansion project.

On August 19, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to immediately remove and revise a report on its website that may dangerously and deceptively mislead citizens into believing that artificial turf has been proven safe. Mr Blumenthal said the CPSC relied on a grossly inadequate and badly flawed study in declaring synthetic turf safe to install and play on — focusing narrowly and insufficiently on lead, while failing to examine several other possible chemicals and concerns.

In a letter to CPSC, Acting Chairman Nancy Ann Nord, Mr Blumenthal said the CPSC’s claims — based on such a “crudely cursory study” — may dangerously deceive municipal and state leaders nationwide about the safety of synthetic turf.

For the sake of public health and safety, Mr Blumenthal said the CPSC has a moral and possibly legal obligation to immediately remove and revise its synthetic turf report from its website.

“This report and release are as deceptive as some of the advertising and marketing of consumer products prosecuted by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general,” he said.

Mr Rodgers, who is also a Republican candidate for the 106th District legislative seat, said he attended a public hearing concerning recent bonding measures where the issue was discussed. In response to a query from the public as to the safety or possible health hazards of artificial turf, Mr Rodgers recalled that Ed Marks, Parks and Recreation Commission chairman, forcefully maintained that studies have proven such turf safe.

“If the study the AG is complaining about was one of the studies relied upon in that assertion, then I hope the Parks and Rec Commission, and other town officials, will track the CPSC’s response to the AG’s request,” Mr Rodgers said. “It appears that for various reasons we may have the time to investigate this controversy further; indeed, a silver lining in some of the delays we’re experiencing might be that it is affording the luxury of further research, and we should take advantage of that opportunity.”

No Conclusions Drawn

Mr Rodgers pointed out that Mr Blumenthal explicitly stated he has not reached a conclusion about the safety of artificial turf one way or the other.

“His request is essentially just a call for more and better research than the one study of which he complains,” Mr Rodgers said. “If other studies exist, supported by more data and better methodology, which support the conclusion that artificial turf is safe, then concerns may be unwarranted.”

The council chairman believes that whatever conclusions are reached locally, he is hoping officials involved share their findings and rationale with the public.

The attorney general shared Mr Rodgers’ feelings that there is a clear and present danger that municipal and state decisionmakers — as well as parents and citizens — are relying on the CPSC report, which Mr Blumenthal asserts is “replete with unsound scientific methodology and conclusions, and unreliable findings.”

Mr Blumenthal said, “It may lead to unsupportable and unwise commitments by towns and cities or their boards of education to build or replace athletic fields,” adding that he has personally reached no conclusion on the safety or health issues concerning artificial turf, because no complete or comprehensive study has been done.

“This one, far from being complete or comprehensive, is profoundly misleading and misguided and may lead to bad policymaking. Timely corrective action — indeed immediate revision — is essential,” he said.

No Chemical Studies

Mr Blumenthal said the CPSC review of artificial turf safety focused entirely on the issue of lead contamination from artificial blades of grass.

“While this one issue is important, it is neither the sole nor the most significant issue,” the attorney general continued. “There is no indication that CPSC staff considered the transferability or emission — especially at high temperatures — of toxic chemicals from the crumb rubber used at the base of artificial turf.” This crumb rubber is usually made from recycled tires, containing chemicals including benthothiazole, butyplated hydroxyanisole, and phthalates that may be toxic or carcinogenic under some circumstances, the attorney general’s release states.

“Similarly, there is no indication that CPSC considered other important risks, some presented or aggravated by very high temperatures in the summer sun, and exposure to serious infection caused by the more extensive skin burns and abrasions created by falls on this material,” the attorney general said. “Further, while CPSC staff admits that aging, wear, and exposure to sunlight may change the amounts of chemicals released, CPSC has not even attempted to study or quantify the effects of those changes on health and safety.”

Even as to the lead issue, Mr Blumenthal contends that the CSPC study is “seriously and reprehensibly flawed.”

“The study evaluated only 14 samples of artificial turf, even though thousands of these fields are in use,” he said. “Worse, six samples were from portions of turf that was never installed or used, and one sample came from a field that was no longer in use. Thus, only half of the samples — or seven — were from turf in current use. The severely deficient scope of this fact-finding eviscerates the credibility of CSPC’s sweeping conclusions about thousands of artificial turf surfaces in daily use.”

Mr Blumenthal said it is “mystifying and mind-boggling that an agency charged with protecting our children from unsafe products would declare artificial turf ‘OK to Install, OK to Play On’ without studying these critical health and safety threats.

“Continued public dissemination of this misleading and deceptive material might well constitute a violation of our consumer protection laws if done by a company selling this product,” the AG said. “The CSPC’s distributing it — and vouching for its accuracy — constitutes a violation of its public trust.”

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) — at Mr Blumenthal’s urging and with funding from a lawsuit settlement by his office — is beginning a study of artificial turf. Mr Blumenthal recommended that the CSPC coordinate additional study with the DEP to ensure a thorough and prompt examination of synthetic turf.