SR0118enr 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

10000SR0118 Enrolled LRB100 09589 MST 19757 r

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 118

WHEREAS, Since the late 1990s, the installation and use of indoor and outdoor artificial turf fields with crumb rubber infill has grown exponentially across the United States and particularly in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The costs to install artificial turf fields with crumb rubber range from $500,000 to well over one million dollars with a useful life of six to 12 years depending on usage and maintenance; maintenance costs which include disinfecting are around $100,000 annually; and

WHEREAS, The installation of artificial turf fields with crumb rubber infill is largely paid for by taxpayer dollars; a typical artificial turf field uses between 20,000 to 40,000 ground up car and truck tires for its crumb rubber infill; the crumb rubber industry came out of an effort to figure out how to dispose of millions of used tires that were considered too toxic to dump into landfills; and

WHEREAS, On October 8, 2014, NBC News aired a national report, "How Safe is the Artificial Turf Your Child Plays On?" that brought the issue of crumb rubber into the national consciousness; Amy Griffin, the former United States women's national team goalkeeper coach at the University of Washington, compiled a list that now contains the names of over 230 athletes, most of whom are soccer players, particularly goalies, that have been stricken with cancer due to repeated contact with crumb rubber; since that NBC report, there have been many other reports across the United States and Europe about the safety of crumb rubber, particularly for young children; and

WHEREAS, Today, children as young as 18 months are playing sports, particularly soccer, on crumb rubber artificial turf fields; more and more children are playing sports on these fields with the presumption that the fields are safe; children can be exposed to highly toxic crumb rubber substances through inhalation, skin absorption, and accidental ingestion; and

WHEREAS, The scientific name for crumb rubber is styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), and according to OSHA, chronic exposure to both styrene and butadiene can harm the central nervous system of children; the EPA has classified butadiene as a known human carcinogen; and

WHEREAS, In June of 2015, Environment and Human Health, Inc., an organization of physicians and public health professionals, conducted a study of 14 samples of crumb rubber at Yale University and found that 96 chemicals were found in crumb rubber infill; of the 96 chemicals that were found, 20% were carcinogenic, about 50% had not been tested for toxicity, and many had incomplete toxicity testing completed; another 40% were found to be skin and eye irritants and also causes of breathing problems; and

WHEREAS, New York and Connecticut-based studies found that crumb rubber infill "off-gassed" toxic chemicals; and

WHEREAS, Tire rubber is composed of 30% to 40% of "carbon black" which is suspected to being a cancer-causing agent; no studies regarding long-term exposure to carbon black on indoor or outdoor fields have been conducted; tires may also contain "carbon nanotubes" which some scientists believe may act similar to asbestos when inhaled into the lungs and cause cancer; and

WHEREAS, The crumb rubber industry and recycling industries tout crumb rubber as 100% safe, often referring to studies that have already been completed and statements made by the EPA and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 2008; however, in 2013 CPSC Chairman Elliot Kay said his 2008 CPSC statement "does not reflect my view on the state of play. Safe to play on means something to parents that I don't think we intended to convey"; and

WHEREAS, On January 28, 2016, due to the lack of reliable studies on the safety of crumb rubber, the CDC, EPA, and CPSC initiated a multi-agency plan to study the long-term effects of crumb rubber exposure on human health; and

WHEREAS, The use of crumb rubber is unregulated and lacks safety oversight by any governmental agency; furthermore, crumb rubber was excluded from classifications as a "children's product" and thus exempt from laws on chemicals "of high concern for children" found in children's products; and

WHEREAS, When applying crumb rubber to turf fields, workers are advised to wear respirators in order to protect them from inhaling crumb rubber dust; and

WHEREAS, There are no requirements to inform field users about the chemical content, associated risk, or precautionary guidelines regarding crumb rubber dust; parents are often told by the turf field owner that these fields are safe based on unreliable static air quality testing; and

WHEREAS, Citing the safety of its students, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, the Chicago Public Schools, as well as other communities across the country have moved away from using crumb rubber infill in favor of a non-petroleum based alternative infill for their turf fields like sand or cork; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the State of Illinois to monitor and, to the extent feasible, cooperate with the federal agencies that are studying the long-term effects of crumb rubber exposure on human health; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the owners and operators of any indoor or outdoor facility that has artificial turf containing crumb rubber infill and that is used by children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years to post at the facility a notice which (i) states that the facility uses an artificial turf with crumb rubber infill, (ii) informs users of the facility about the 2016 multi-agency federal crumb rubber study and about the possible chemical exposure to children playing on crumb rubber infill, and (iii) describes a location where additional information about the 2016 multi-agency federal crumb rubber study can be obtained.