DeLauro on Artificial Turf Study

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) today released the following statement in response to a new study released by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency on artificial turf playing fields and playgrounds composed of recycled tire material, or tire crumb.

The study was conducted to order to develop better tests and help the EPA to address questions of safety with tire crumb being used in recreational fields. Though limited in size and scope, the study found that the presence of harmful materials in the tire crumb was below the levels considered to be harmful.

Congresswoman DeLauro said, "Under the previous Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released a deeply flawed study proclaiming all turf fields to be "safe." While substantially more research needs to be done, it is promising to see that the EPA is carefully evaluating methods that can accurately determine whether substances in tire crumbs and synthetic turf could be harmful to people.

"While the EPA found that the concentrations of materials that made up tire crumb were below levels considered harmful, they acknowledged that the limited nature of the study made it impossible at this time to generalize the results to all synthetic turf fields or tire crumb playgrounds in the country. I look forward to working with the EPA as they continue to carry out this research, which is of crucial importance to the decisions being made in towns and schools across the country about whether to use artificial turf in playgrounds or sports fields."