Liberty Tire Recycling | 2023 Environmental, Social and Governance Report 48 ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Re-Affirms Crumb Rubber Safety for Athletes We have always been confident in the safety of our products, the chemical safety of which is governed by federal, state, and local laws—in addition to routine robust testing we conduct. As part of our commitment to safety, we have been in regular communication with the federal government since 2016 as part of a multi-agency investigation into the safety of recycled crumb rubber as an infill material for sports fields. We are pleased that in early 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released the results of the largest tire crumb rubber study conducted in the United States. 7 The study concluded that there was little or no difference in athletes’ exposure to certain chemicals, metals, or air emissions regardless of whether they played on synthetic fields with crumb rubber infill or on grass. As part of the study, the EPA reviewed and affirmed its support of other independent studies which concluded that recycled rubber is safe. The study included a pilot-scale study of 14 individuals and a larger study of 161 individuals, who represented a mix of players using only synthetic turf fields with recycled crumb rubber infill, only natural grass fields, and who used indoor and outdoor fields. The participants in the study provided biological samples before and after playing on the fields to measure any exposure to a wide range of chemicals, metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The study found that exposure levels to players on fields with recycled crumb rubber infill were “similar to,” “somewhat lower than,” and even “substantially lower than” typical background exposure levels. In short, there is no meaningful difference in exposure levels to players regardless of whether the field they are playing on uses recycled crumb rubber infill. The report also said they support the findings of other national health and chemical safety agencies, including the European Chemicals Agency and the Netherlands National Institute for Health and Environment. Those reports concluded “no reason to advise people against playing sports on synthetic turf containing recycled rubber granules as infill” and “playing sports on these fields is safe,” respectively. Moreover, during a webinar hosted by the U.S. EPA to present the findings, the agency said they support the findings of organizations like the Washington State Department of Health. Washington State investigated potential health impacts on soccer goalies and found no reason for concern for players using fields with recycled crumb rubber infill and concluded “people who enjoy soccer continue to play regardless of the type of field surface.” Moving forward, Liberty will focus on educating our stakeholders on the findings of the U.S. EPA report to continue to unlock the many benefits of recycled rubber. 7. Source: https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/federal-research-recycled-tire-crumb-used-playing-fields-and-playgrounds To learn more, read our press release here
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