Edmonds parents concerned over crumb rubber turf on sports field



EDMONDS, Wash. -- Hundreds of parents are throwing a 'Hail Mary' to try to convince the Edmonds City Council to ban crumb rubber fields in the city now that a new field is being constructed for sports activities.

Parents worry crumb rubber found in artificial turf could cause their children to get sick.

April Osborne said, "What we know is these fields are made from crumb rubber. Crumb rubber comes from tires and tires contain known carcinogens so in my mind carcinogens and kids don’t mix."

In a statement, the Edmonds School District said, "Based on the scientific research, there is neither the dose, nor the exposure route, to indicate a health hazard for artificial turf/crumb rubber field users."

Parents want more research to be done before they let their kids suit up for their next soccer or football games.

Laura Johnson said, "We do not need to proceed with something that we just don’t know enough about and we are not willing to allow our children to be the guinea pigs and the test subjects."

Parents were planning to encourage the Edmonds City Council to consider banning crumb rubber at the 7 p.m. council meeting Tuesday.