The State of the Science: Recycled Rubber Safety

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The State of the Science: Recycled Rubber Safety"

Dinah Gordon
5 years ago
Views:

1 The State of the Science: Recycled Rubber Safety Michael Peterson, MEM, DABT Lynnwood City Council Study Session Lynnwood, WA June 5, 2017

today; however, all of the scientific opinions and

synthetic turf/recycled rubber with a number of

2 Conflict of Interest Statement D.A. Hogan & Associates has paid for my time to be here today; however, all of the scientific opinions and research discussed today are strictly my own (or those of my colleagues). Gradient has been involved with projects related to synthetic turf/recycled rubber with a number of entities, including health districts, school districts, synthetic turf manufacturers, rubber recyclers, and trade associations. 2

3 Context/Example: Recycled Rubber vs. Natural Soil (95% UCLs) Chemical Recycled Rubber (mg/kg) Natural Soil (mg/kg) Arsenic Lead Carcinogenic PAHs Data are only a subset of chemicals found in crumb rubber/soil. Crumb rubber data (and c PAH data) are from literature review; data from chemical composition studies, and do not consider bioaccessibility. Natural soil data are from USGS (2014) for metals and literature review for PAHs. PAH concentrations are expressed as BaP equivalents.

4 What is Toxicology? Definition: the study of the negative effects of chemical and physical agents on living organisms. 4

5 Dose The Key Concept in Toxicology All things are poisonous, only the dose makes it nonpoisonous. Dose alone determines toxicity. Father of Modern Toxicology Paracelsus 1564 All chemicals synthetic or natural have the capacity to be toxic. 5

6 Dose Dose determines whether a chemical will be beneficial or poisonous Beneficial Dose Toxic Dose Aspirin 300 1,000 mg 1,000 30,000 mg Vitamin A 5,000 units/day 50,000 units/day Oxygen 21% (Air) 50 80% (Air) 6

7 Risk Risk The likelihood of injury or disease resulting from exposure to a potential hazard Evaluation of risk embodies all the basic concepts of toxicology 7

8 8 Human Health Risk Assessment

9 Previous Scientific Literature Artificial turf reports from 17 different organizations US EPA, Connecticut DPH, Massachusetts DPH, CalOEHHA, CPSC, New Jersey DEP, New York City, New York State 24+ peer reviewed studies Overall: studies that evaluate chemical risk (not simply presence!) do not identify concerns 9

Limitations Yes, there are limitations (as with ALL scientific inquiries) However, studies have: Evaluated ingestion, dermal contact, inhalation Evaluated ~90 chemicals Evaluated

10 Limitations Yes, there are limitations (as with ALL scientific inquiries) However, studies have: Evaluated ingestion, dermal contact, inhalation Evaluated ~90 chemicals Evaluated the impact of hot surfaces Taken samples of air above crumb rubber Evaluated the bioavailability of chemicals in crumb rubber Evaluated the mutagenic potential of crumb rubber 10

11 Good News New Studies! RIVM Dutch "US EPA" and "CDC" December 2016 Comprehensive evaluation Sampled over 100 different fields Declared that playing on these fields is "safe" Found only very low levels of chemicals were released (bioavailability) 11

12 Good News New Studies! ECHA European Chemicals Agency February 2017 Sampled over 100 different fields and 50 new rubber samples Also found low bioavailability Levels of metals were below allowable levels for toys 12

13 Good News New Studies! Cal Ripken Foundation May 2017 Six fields in five states Evaluated dermal, ingestion, and inhalation Cancer risk and non cancer hazards are below US EPA guideline levels Full report not yet available 13

14 Peterson et al., 2017: A Comprehensive Multipathway Human Health Risk Assessment Coauthors: Julie Lemay, MPH; Sara Pacheco Shubin, Ph.D., MPH; Robyn Prueitt; Ph.D., DABT Currently in peer review Funding: No industry funding for risk assessment/manuscript; Verdant Health provided funding for initial data collection and preliminary risk assessment 14

15 Peterson et al., 2017: A Comprehensive Multipathway Human Health Risk Assessment Data Used Collected all available data in the literature Close to 150 recycled rubber samples Over 100 air samples Over 100 different chemicals evaluated Also evaluated natural soil fields 15

16 Peterson et al., 2017: A Comprehensive Multipathway Human Health Risk Assessment Exposure Assessment 95% UCLs/Maximum Concentration Standard US EPA equations and assumptions (time spent on field, number of times per week, etc.) Scenarios Players Spectators (adult, children) Pathways Dermal Ingestion Inhalation 16

17 Results: Cancer Risks US EPA acceptable risk level: US EPA, 1990, 1991; Rodricks and Rieth,

18 18 Results: Non Cancer Hazards (Rubber Only)

19 New Study Conclusions All exposure scenarios within US EPA acceptable risk limits Even though: Maximum or 95% UCL concentrations 100% bioavailability (aside from As, Phenols, Phthalates, and PAHs) All spectators and players assumed to play 100% of games/practices on synthetic turf 19

20 What About Contrary Studies? Do Not Consider Risk; Only Measure Concentrations Yale Study; Llompart et al., 2013 Found carcinogens, irritants Did not look at exposure or risk Did not consider bioavailability 20

21 What About Contrary Studies? Italian Study (Marsili et al., 2014) Used 3 methods to evaluate risk 2 of the 3 found risks were below regulatory limits Relevant tables are missing from the article Other method: "It must be underlined that this preliminary hazard assessment overestimates the PAH contribution of the field because the input from the wide variety of anthropogenic and crustal sources were not considered and then, this theoretical approach must be considered as an extreme worst case screening." 21

22 22 Coach Griffin's List: Soccer Players With Cancer

23 Context: Coach Griffin's List Actual list is not public! 209 athletes; 160 soccer players; 97 goalies; 45 Washington residents who played both recreationally and year round What about background rates? 3,000,000 US youth soccer players; 100,000 in WA Expected background cancer rate: 48.7 per 100,000/yr In other words, over 15 years we would expect there to be: 21,735 US soccer cancer cases (8,820 leukemia/lymphoma) 725 WA soccer cancer cases (294 leukemia/lymphoma) 23

24 Context: Coach Griffin's List Actual list is not public! 209 athletes; 160 soccer players; 97 goalies; 45 Washington residents who played both recreationally and year round What about background rates? 3,000,000 US youth soccer players; 100,000 in WA Expected background cancer rate: 48.7 per 100,000/yr In other words, over 15 years we would expect there to be: 21,735 US soccer cancer cases (8,820 leukemia/lymphoma) 725 WA soccer cancer cases (294 leukemia/lymphoma) 24

25 Coach Griffin's List Washington State Department of Health January 2017 Not true epidemiology study; cancer cluster investigation Found that WA soccer players on list had less cancer than expected 25

year extension California OEHHA Four year study

26 Ongoing Research US EPA/CPSC/ATSDR Published data gap analysis in December 2016 Just asked for two year extension California OEHHA Four year study Very comprehensive Results currently scheduled for

27 Questions? Michael Peterson, MEM, DABT Lynnwood City Council Study Session Lynnwood, WA June 5, 2017

Health concerns have been documented in rubber tire fabrication workers that are attributed

Health concerns have been documented in rubber tire fabrication workers that are attributed II. TOXICOLOGY AND HEALTH EFFECTS In this report, Environment and Human Health, Inc. evaluates the information known about the potential health and environmental risks from exposure to crumb rubber made