Is Your Playground Toxic?

  • Some parents and health professionals are standing by crumb rubber, because it does such a good job of preventing broken bones. (Photo by Ben Adler)

Playgrounds are supposed to be
safe places for kids to play.
But Tamara Keith
has the story of a leaked memo
from the Environmental Protection
Agency that indicates there might
be a problem with crumb rubber:

Transcript

Playgrounds are supposed to be
safe places for kids to play.
But Tamara Keith
has the story of a leaked memo
from the Environmental Protection
Agency that indicates there might
be a problem with crumb rubber:

(sound of kids playing)

Shawn Clancy’s two sons are having fun running around a community play set. And if they fall, he says there’s plenty of crumb rubber. It’s made from recycled tires and it should stop them from breaking any bones.

“I’ve seen kids fall from far distances. I’ve seen the give. I’ve seen them get right back up and kids are playing with it. It’s fun to dig in. They can kind of play with it. It’s about 8 inches thick, so there’s quite a bit of it.”

Clancy and his neighbors like the fact that it lasts a long time and that it keeps old tires out of landfills. And they’re not the only ones.

(outdoor sound)

I’m outside of the White House right now, just on the other side of the fence. And somewhere on those grounds, probably behind some tall shrubs, there is a play set. It’s a new play set that Sasha and Malia, the first family got. And underneath that play set is a pretty thick layer of rubber crumb to protect the girls if they fall.

I don’t think anyone is suggesting that this exposure is good for kids. The only question is how bad could it be.

Jeff Ruch heads Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. His group got its hands on some documents where scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency question whether there’s stuff in the crumb rubber that could be toxic to kids.

“What’s known is very very little. They list, I think it’s 30 toxic chemicals in one of the memos. And so far work has only been done on two of them.”

An EPA spokesman says the agency is doing a preliminary study of 4 playgrounds, looking for lead and volatile organic compounds. The results aren’t in yet.

The Rubber Manufacturers Association says there are more than a hundred studies showing scrap tires are safe in playgrounds and that environmental groups are over hyping the concerns.

Richard Wiles isn’t buying it. He’s senior vice president of the Environmental Working Group. And he feels like he’s seen this movie before – with arsenic treated wooden playground equipment.

“It was a really bad idea to use arsenic in this way and for about 20 years this is what we did.”

And kids all across the country were playing on this contaminated wood. But the thing is, initially arsenic treated wood seemed like a great idea, because it prevented decay – and made play structures safe and strong for years.

Parents might be left with the feeling that you just can’t win. Wiles thinks there’s another lesson.

“The basic problem is, we tend to use these products before we evaluate the health and safety concerns. We tend to just throw it out there without thinking that oh this is a surface that is made out of something that was previously considered hazardous waste.”

With all the alarm about very real arsenic problems, and yet to be verified concerns with crumb rubber, Donna Thompson says it’s easy to forget that playgrounds today are safer than they’ve ever been. She’s executive direction of the National Program for Playground Safety. For now she’s standing by crumb rubber, because it does such a good job of preventing broken bones.

“I’m not going to worry about it yet until I hear what the results are because I think sometimes we make too big a deal out of something and then it’s just not the case.”

The EPA says it will have results in a few weeks.

For The Environment Report, I’m Tamara Keith.

Related Links

Recycling Your Christmas Tree

  • (Photo courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol)

Most cities discourage you
from throwing your Christmas tree
away. Rebecca Williams takes a look
at what you can do with your tree:

Transcript

Most cities discourage you
from throwing your Christmas tree
away. Rebecca Williams takes a look
at what you can do with your tree:

In a lot of cities you can drop your tree off, or a city truck will come and
pick it up. Then they’ll run it through a big chipper and make mulch. Cities
use the mulch for parks or zoos. And sometimes you can buy some of that
mulch for your own yard.

Bryan Weinert is a solid waste coordinator in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He
says you’ve got to make sure you take all the ornaments and tinsel off the
tree before you put it at the curb.

“You know that compromises the quality of our finished product and in
some cases can actually damage our grinding equipment.”

Other places use the trees to create fish habitat. And this year, when the
Vatican is done with its 108 foot tall Christmas tree, it’ll use it to make
wooden toys.

For The Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Related Links

Protecting Trees From Lawnmowers

It’s that time of year when the sound of lawnmowers and weed whackers fills the air. A tree expert says trees that are bumped by mowers or scraped by string trimmers can be seriously damaged or killed. The GLRC’s Fred Kight has the story:

Transcript

It’s that time of year when the sound of lawnmowers and weed whackers fills the air. A
tree expert says trees that are bumped by mowers or scraped by string trimmers can be
seriously damaged or killed. The GLRC’s Fred Kight has the story:


If your trees could talk, they might be saying “keep that lawnmower away from me!”
Trees that are wounded by lawn equipment become vulnerable to disease, decay and
insects. Urban Forester Ann Bonner says often just one swipe with the trimmer can slice
into a young tree’s thin bark, killing it in no time:


“Some easy ways to protect your trees would be plant shrubbery, or ground covers,
flowers around the base of your trees, or simply mulch them. Planting mulch around
your trees not only will keep the grass away, but it will also help moderate the moisture
and climate extremes that are pretty common.”


Another way to protect trees from lawnmowers and string trimmers is to place plastic
tubing around the base. For the GLRC, I’m Fred Kight.

Related Links

New Life for Discarded Christmas Trees

  • Some municipalities have conservation uses for old Christmas trees. (Photo by Lester Graham)

Depending on how your Christmas went, your tree might have been out on the curb the day after the holiday. Or you might be getting around to taking it down now. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Melissa Ingells found that the trees play a useful role even after the decorations are gone:

Transcript

Depending on how your Christmas went, your tree may have
been out on the curb the day after the holiday. Or you may just
be getting around to taking it down now. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Melissa Ingells found that the trees play a
useful role even after the decorations are gone:


Landfills usually don’t accept Christmas trees, so cities and
community groups do their best to recycle them. Most people
take advantage of the service. Over 75-percent nationwide,
says Mel Koelling. He’s a Professor in the Department of
Forestry at Michigan State University. Koelling says the bulk
of the trees are processed into mulch.


“Mulch can go into parks for footpaths, into bicycle trails,
underneath swing sets and other playground equipment. Some
locations have homeowner policies where you bring home your tree and you
can take home a bag of mulch to put under your rose bushes or somewhere else.”


Koelling says some people use the trees for brush piles to
shelter wildlife. And anglers’ groups sometimes sink the trees
into lakes, where they provide a spawning area for fish. So,
that tree that graced your home last month could be improving
your garden, playground, or fishing spot in the months to come.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Melissa Ingells.

Commentary – Reducing Backyard Waste

With Spring upon us, the weather has allowed us to spend some time planting in the garden and cleaning up the yard. But did you know that yard waste accounts for about fifteen percent of total household trash? Great Lakes Radio Consortium Commentator Bob Lilienfeld tells us how to reduce organic waste coming from our lawns: