State Health Officals Announced There Is No Link Between Crumb Rubber Sports field And Cancer

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Health officials announced on Wednesday that there is no evidence that playing on crumb rubber sports fields has led soccer players to have cancer. However, the recent finding is unlikely to settle the ongoing controversy over the safety of artificial turf fields.

"We are recommending that people who enjoy soccer continue to play soccer regardless of the type of surface," state epidemiologist for noninfectious disease for the state Department of Health, Cathy Wasserman said. The health officials noted that a study they conducted on turf fields was limited in scope, as it was a comparison of cancer rates among soccer players with cancer rates among people in the same age group in Washington.

They assured that a separate larger study on the subject is now underway and will considers issues on the toxicity of crumb rubber and the effect of exposure to it. Wasserman added that the state department of health will continue to monitor studies on the safety of the fields.

In the meantime, "we're not seeing the crumb rubber is causing a public health concern," said Lauren Jenks, who directs the state health department's office of environmental public health sciences. She said it is reasonable to install crumb rubber fields, a subject that have drawn attentions and controversies lately in Edmonds and other communities in the region. The padding in the crumb rubber fields is made from used tires which opponents of crumb rubber sports fields have linked with hazardous chemicals in tires such as, heavy metals and cancer-causing substances, according to The Daily Herald.

The agency decided to conduct the study following the compilation of a list of 53 people who played on the artificial turf and were later diagnosed with cancer including, leukemia, non-Hodgkin's and Hodgkin's lymphoma. The list was compiled by a University of Washington soccer coach, Amy Griffin.

The study examined a subset of this group, 27 people between 6 to 24 years old who were diagnosed with cancer during the years 2002 to 2015.  The officials met with some of the families involved in the study, to present their findings on Tuesday.

Also present at the meeting was June Leahy, mother of Austen Everett, who is reported to have trained with Griffin, as a goalkeeper for Seattle's Bishop Blanchet High School and player on teams at the University of California Santa Barbara and the University of Miami in Florida. Everett was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2008. She died at the age of 25 four years later. However, Leahy noted that she has always known that crumb rubber played a role in her daughter's death and the results of the study did not change that.

She hopes the tire crumb will get the intense scrutiny it deserves such as studies to examine the material content and toxins in the crumb rubber, how they break down, particles and dust created on the fields, the gasses created by crumb rubber ingestion of the tiny rubber particles and skin contact, according to Kitap Sun. A further national study on the potential health effects of playing on crumb rubber fields is ongoing and conducted by the CDC, EPA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The study is expected to be concluded later this year. The team released an update on the study in December.

The officials that the safety precautions that have been previously recommended when playing on crumb rubber fields should continue to minimize the potential harmful effect of the field's chemicals. Players are advised to always wash their hands after playing on the field and before eating, take off shoes, sports equipment and uniforms in the garage, bath after playing, quickly cleaning any cuts or scrapes to help prevent infection and not swallowing any particle of crumb rubber while playing.