We at The18 covered the lawsuit that took place between a group of female international soccer stars (including Americans Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan) and FIFA concerning what kind of field the 2015 Women’s World Cup would be played on. The women obviously wanted grass, but their main motivation against playing on artificial turf has long been that it is an inferior playing surface. It seems now, however, that they may be able to add legitimate long-term health concerns to the list.
NBC news and just recently, ESPN's E:60 recently concluded a long investigation into the health risks of playing on artificial turf. Specifically, they looked at the connection between the “crumb rubber,” a substitute for dirt in artificial turf, and cancer in the players who play on it. Below are both pieces.
As the video states, the investigation was started after NBC news learned of a college soccer coach, Amy Griffin, who was doing an investigation of her own. She herself became interested in the subject after two of her goal keepers had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
After talking to the doctor treating her two players, as well as the players themselves, Griffin began to wonder if crumb rubber was to blame for her players’ cancer, and if they were especially at risk because they are goal keepers, and are so much closer to the turf than any other outfield player.
Crumb rubber is made of shredded car and truck tires, and so it is made up of the very same chemicals, including four known carcinogens. Science and industry have been quick to say that crumb rubber has been proven to be safe time after time, with one doctor in chemistry stating, “there is certainly a preponderance of evidence, to this point, that says that in fact [artificial turf] is safe.”
Even so, the New York City Parks Department and the Los Angeles school system have stopped installing artificial turf fields because of the possible health risks.
In her own investigation, Griffin compiled a list of players who both played on artificial turf and were diagnosed with cancer. As the video states, it is hardly scientific, but it is startling. Of the 38 players who were diagnosed with cancer, 34 were goalies.
As one of the players on that list had to say, “You don’t eat tires, yet we were. As goalies…you would get it in your mouth and you wouldn’t think about it.”
All of this makes for a very indecisive outlook. One one hand, science is adamant that “it is very difficult to study the relationship between environmental exposure and cancer,” but there have been multiple studies pointing to the fact that crumb rubber is safe. On the other we have Griffin’s list, which is startling but unscientific.
The only thing we can make out of this is that we are in agreement with Amy Griffin’s main goal: more research needs to be done. If there is even a small chance that artificial turf is causing cancer in players, then it needs to be completely removed and replaced wherever it may be. Hopefully, as this issue gets more attention, more money will become available to be spent on research, and we will finally get an answer.
We have a feeling we know of a few female soccer stars that would be willing to help with fundraising.
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Women's Players Finally File Lawsuit Against FIFA Over Artificial Turf
13 Angry Politicians: The U.S. Senate Plunges Into The Turf War
