Toxic baseball field causing cancer?
By Jim Dolan
(Brooklyn - WABC, May 24, 2007) - This was supposed to be a big tournament weekend for a little league in Brooklyn. But all the games have been cancelled because of worries that the synthetic field may cause cancer.
The field in question: Salgado playground in the Bedford-Stuyvesant Section. Is it an overreaction?
Eyewitness News Jim Dolan has the story.
The players are heartbroken about the tournament being canceled.
A few years ago this whole field was like this, made out of concrete. A couple years later the city came in and put in this nice soft synthetic turf. The reason that it is so much softer is these tiny rubber granule that are right on the field.
The problem is some people think those rubber granules may be toxic.
The highlanders little league team had their last practice here tonight even though the kids like the field much better than the dirt field they used to play on.
"The ball comes out very well. The sliding doesn't hurt your knees," said player, Imtiaj Perbeg. "I think it was good until I heard the risk factor."
The risk factor may come from the tiny rubber pellets that make the field feel so soft. Some think those tiny rubber pellets may be toxic.
"We have a memorial tournament coming up this weekend, but unfortunately we have to tell the children they would not be playing on the fields this weekend," said League Commissioner, Michael Harris.
A Rutgers University professor first raised the issue.
"In the end, it may very well turn out that the turf is completely safe," Professor William Crane from Rutgers University said in statement. "But we need research to know."
There has been some research. The Dutch National Institute says, "The chance of harmful effects from & rubber granules in artificial turf fields is negligibly small."
Not good enough for the children.
"This is beautiful field. But there is a potential health risk," said Michael Harris. "We have to take safety first for the children."
"They might have to change it back to dirt or something," a player, Matthew Santiago, said.
The city says they are willing to investigate and willing to study this matter but they also said that those little rubber granules are just ground up tires. They have no evidence at all that they might be toxic.
(Copyright 2007 WABC-TV)