A very interesting article. So at the end, does the industry opinion win over medical opinion?
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-playground7-2009apr07,0,4767026.story From the Los Angeles Times Health concerns over Obamas' swing set mulch Sasha and Malia play on a surface made from recycled tires, which an environmental health group says is unsafe.By Ted Gregory April 7, 2009 Reporting from Chicago — Sasha and Malia's White House playground poses a health risk, an environmental health group contends. The Obama children's swing set rests on ground-up tire mulch, and that's a problem, according to Environment and Human Health Inc. "This is not a material that children should be playing on," wrote Nancy Alderman, president of the group, which bills itself as a "nonprofit organization composed of doctors, public health professionals and policy experts . . . dedicated to protecting human health from environmental harms." The group said an analysis of ground tires done by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station found butylated hydroxyanisole, a carcinogen; skin and eye irritants; material that destroys mucous membranes; and zinc. In addition, Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York concluded in March that "we are suddenly, and belatedly, beginning to realize that synthetic turf fields may, in fact, be associated with health problems in children." The hospital's review cited the fields' tendency to get very hot, outbreaks of MRSA skin infections among children playing on the fields, and the potential for children to ingest toxins and carcinogens from the turf. First Lady Michelle Obama's communications director, Camille Johnston, said in an e-mail that the White House followed recommendations of the National Recreation and Park Assn. "when choosing and installing the safety surface under the swing set." The association said it relied on the International Play Equipment Manufacturers Assn., which forwarded questions to Rubber Manufacturers Assn. vice president Mike Blumenthal. He pointed to a series of studies in the U.S. and in Europe -- which has reused scrap tires for much longer than the United States has -- that show tires are safe. First lady spokeswoman Johnston settled the issue, at least for now: The mulch is going to stay. web address: http://activecommunitycoalition.googlepages.com/home acc calendar of events: http://tinyurl.com/acc-calendar ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao Tzu "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." - Winston Churchill "There are seven sins in the world: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principle. " - Mahatma Gandhi ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20090407/fd3dd24c/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
