Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/726969
crumb-rubber pellets. In 2014, NBC News reported the story, which was then carried by ESPN and other news outlets. By 2015, her list grew to 200 athletes with lymphoma and included 158 soccer players, 101 of them goalkeepers. (Goalkeepers fre- quently dive onto the field.) In 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found zinc and other toxins in crumb rubber to be far below danger- ous levels and safe to play on. So did the Consumer Product Safety Commission. However, the EPA has since backpedaled on its study, which encompassed only four playing fields, calling it "limited" in scope, and recommended that state and local agencies conduct their own studies. "Limited studies have not shown an ele- vated health risk from playing on fields with tire crumb, but the existing studies do not comprehensively evaluate the concerns about health risks from exposure to tire crumb," the EPA states on its website. Makers of crumb rubber say there is no evidence connecting artificial turf and cancer. And to date, no scientific studies have found a connection. But that has not deterred skeptics and activist groups — includ- ing the nonprofit organization Environment and Human Health — from asserting that high levels of toxins in rubber tires may indeed be harmful to athletes, especially if inhaled or accidentally swallowed, and that heat and sunlight break down particles in the pellets over time, releasing toxins into the atmosphere. ere is also concern about water runoff carrying dangerous chemicals from the phony turf. e city of Santa Rosa noted that "levels of zinc, selenium, lead and cadmium leaching into groundwater from crumb rubber underlayment may be significant," and urged that more research be done on this issue. The Mount Sinai Children's Environmental Health Center has also expressed concerns about health risks. "Exposures to chemicals present in crumb rubber at very high levels, typical of animal or occupational studies, are known to cause birth defects, neurologic and developmental deficits, and some can even cause cancer," notes the center. "Children have increased exposure to toxic chemicals due to the unique way they interact with their environment. Because they are growing and developing, their bod- ies are also more susceptible than adults to chemical exposures." Tire turf plan flaened in Sebastopol T h e We s t S o n o m a U n i o n H i g h S c h o o l D i s t r i c t B o a r d un anim o u sly appro v ed a pl an in Febr u ar y 2 0 1 5 to in st al l crumb-rubber fields at Analy and El Molino high schools. Both campuses were poised for the turf rollout. But in the face of o pp o siti on a n d s afe ty c on c er n s , th e di str i c t decided at the last minute not to go with crumb rubber. It considered two alternatives: infill made from 100 percent cork and another from coconut fiber and cork. They decided to go with cork and pay $170,000 more per field than they would have paid for crumb rubber. At the forefront of the opposition to crumb rubber in the district were Starr Hergenrather, a theater arts teacher at Analy High School in Sebastopol, and her daughter Nell Hergenrather, an educator whose children play soccer in the district. S t a r r He rg e n r a t h e r w a s i n t h e m i d d l e o f a theater production when she read a letter from a parent who was concerned that the fields could cause health problems. She contacted Nell, who took the ball and ran with it. The duo organized a letter-writing campaign, and after receiving hun- dreds of letters, the school board had a change of heart. Not everybody was on board; some staff wanted to go with the crumb-rubber fields and use the savings for other things, such as offsetting employee health care costs. " Why should my grandchildren and students have to play on crumb-rubber fields and possibly get cancer?" asks Starr Hergenrather, a member of the West Sonoma County Teachers Association. "As a teacher, my responsibility is to protect our chil- dren and provide them with a safe environment." The rural Northern California school district has joined Los Angeles Unified School District and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in banning crumb-rubber fields due to health concerns. F E A T U R E 20 cta.org Sebastopol educator Starr Hergenrather with her grandchildren. She helped convince her school district to ban crumb rubber fields.