Lead Level Up 8 Times in New FieldTurf Artificial Turf

Today, the Montgomery County Council will unanimously approve another 120 tons of ground up rubber waste and a football sized sheet of plastic to be installed at Wootton High School.   Yes, the vote will be unanimous. Why not?  Congratulations to the Wootton High School neighbors and the folks downstream from the 120 tons of ground up rubber.  Look for little rubber pellets in your streams soon! (FieldTurf swears  the little rubber pellets never leave the field. But, we know the truth.)

In 2011, Councilmember Hans Riemer asked MCPS' James Song for the lead levels in the MCPS artificial turf that was already installed.  Now, you may think that when a Councilmember asks a question they get a response.  You would be wrong.  It's now 2013 and MCPS has never released any lead testing for it's 4 artificial turf football fields.

However, M-NCPPC has tested two of its artificial turf football fields, Blair High School (it's on park land) and the new Wheaton plastic field. 

Here's what we know:

Blair High School - Testing done by  EMSL Analytical in Westmont, New Jersey in 2009

What was tested:
Plastic Grass 

Wheaton Sports Pavillion - Testing done by Analytical Industrial Research Laboratories in Cleveland, Tennessee (no date)

What was tested:
Plastic grass
Ground up rubber infill (Nike Grind)
Underlayment
Backing

To date, M-NCPPC has only released the lead content information for the following:

Blair - Plastic grass

Wheaton - Ground up rubber infill (Nike Grind)

Therefore, we cannot compare the total lead levels of the fields.  

All we know is that the lead level for the Nike Grind ground up rubber is 8 times the lead level of the Blair plastic grass.  The lead level in FieldTurf artificial turf has gone up, not down! And, it is certainly not lead-free as one Councilmember thinks is required in California. 

What we need is the TOTAL lead in all of the components of EACH field. Especially now that the CDC has lowered what is considered a dangerous level of lead in children.  The CDC now says there is no level of lead exposure that is considered safe for children. 

Odds of ever getting the information on the total lead level in each of the MCPS and M-NCPPC plastic football fields? 

1.1 million to 1