"According to documents Arden obtained through the Freedom of Information Law, a group of doctors at Mt. Sinai Hospital even pleaded with the city's Health Department not to release the"deeply flawed" study exonerating turf, calling the report "superficial and one-sided." The report "does not present a fair and balanced assessment of the issues surrounding the potential health hazards of synthetic turf," the doctors wrote."
The September 2010 issue of City Limits was honored on March 3, for its in-depth report on artificial turf entitled, "Was New York City Shift To Artificial Grass A $ 300- Million dollar mistake? A Risky Play." The story was written by former Metro senior reporter Patrick Arden.
City-Wide
By Geoffrey Croft
Journalist Patrick Arden has won an Ippie Award for Best Investigative Story of 2010 for his in-depth examination of how New York City became the world's largest buyer of fake grass, investing more than $300 million to put artificial turf down at hundreds of parks and schools. The story was published in the September issue of City Limits magazine.
Arden found that overuse and chronic neglect has run the turf ragged years ahead of schedule; price comparisons generally favor natural grass, even in the long term; and the health risks of turf – largely dismissed by the city after the destruction of one artificial field for high lead levels in late 2008 – are much broader and deeper than previously reported.
While the story received some attention for its findings about wasteful spending, and the cost advantages of grass over turf, damning information on the health risks – and an apparent cover-up by the city – has been unfortunately ignored.
The city was forced to stop buying turf infill made from recycled shredded tires in 2008 after public outcry raised health numerous health concerns, but the problem material still accounts for the overwhelming majority of existing turf fields. And after having to destroy the one field in East Harlem for high lead, Arden discovered, the city changed its testing methods in an ostensive attempt to dilute lead readings.
According to documents Arden obtained through the Freedom of Information Law, a group of doctors at Mt. Sinai Hospital even pleaded with the city's Health Department not to release the "deeply flawed" study exonerating turf, calling the report "superficial and one-sided." The report "does not present a fair and balanced assessment of the issues surrounding the potential health hazards of synthetic turf," the doctors wrote, identifying several "proven and potential" hazards of synthetic turf made from recycled tires: "excessive heat," with field temperatures reaching as high as 172 degrees; MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staph infection that can be acquired through "turf burns"; and chemical exposures. "Several credible studies" had found the crumb rubber contains "known human carcinogens" and "neurotoxic chemicals," as well as lead, chromium and arsenic.
Journalist Patrick Arden has won an Ippie Award for Best Investigative Story of 2010 for his in-depth examination of how New York City became the world's largest buyer of fake grass, investing more than $300 million to put artificial turf down at hundreds of parks and schools. The story was published in the September issue of City Limits magazine.
Arden found that overuse and chronic neglect has run the turf ragged years ahead of schedule; price comparisons generally favor natural grass, even in the long term; and the health risks of turf – largely dismissed by the city after the destruction of one artificial field for high lead levels in late 2008 – are much broader and deeper than previously reported.
While the story received some attention for its findings about wasteful spending, and the cost advantages of grass over turf, damning information on the health risks – and an apparent cover-up by the city – has been unfortunately ignored.
The city was forced to stop buying turf infill made from recycled shredded tires in 2008 after public outcry raised health numerous health concerns, but the problem material still accounts for the overwhelming majority of existing turf fields. And after having to destroy the one field in East Harlem for high lead, Arden discovered, the city changed its testing methods in an ostensive attempt to dilute lead readings.
According to documents Arden obtained through the Freedom of Information Law, a group of doctors at Mt. Sinai Hospital even pleaded with the city's Health Department not to release the "deeply flawed" study exonerating turf, calling the report "superficial and one-sided." The report "does not present a fair and balanced assessment of the issues surrounding the potential health hazards of synthetic turf," the doctors wrote, identifying several "proven and potential" hazards of synthetic turf made from recycled tires: "excessive heat," with field temperatures reaching as high as 172 degrees; MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staph infection that can be acquired through "turf burns"; and chemical exposures. "Several credible studies" had found the crumb rubber contains "known human carcinogens" and "neurotoxic chemicals," as well as lead, chromium and arsenic.
The report, a $ 100,000 internet literature review, was prepared for New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The study titled, "A Review of the Potential Health and Safety Risks From Synthetic Turf Fields,” received a $100,000 grant from the New York Community Trust and was routinely dismissed as not credible. However this has not prevented the city from frequently promoting the report's "findings" to community boards and elected officials when questioned about artificial turf safety.
In his previous work as the senior City Hall reporter for Metro New York, Arden had exposed an orchestrated campaign by the Bloomberg administration to discredit other health professionals who raised red flags. City officials used the report discredited by doctors to insist the recycled-tire turf is "perfectly safe," a phrase Arden's City Limits story finds repeated by Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "I would never endanger a child," he said.
Since the story's publication, the city began replacing a field in Chelsea Park and is in the process of replacing a field in J.J. Walker Park in West Greenwich Village. Both were found to have elevated lead levels. Unfortunately the City continues to misrepresent this public health and safety information.
Since the story's publication, the city began replacing a field in Chelsea Park and is in the process of replacing a field in J.J. Walker Park in West Greenwich Village. Both were found to have elevated lead levels. Unfortunately the City continues to misrepresent this public health and safety information.
Also at the March 3 ceremony: Ithaca College's Park Center for Independent Media awarded an Izzy Award (named after the legendary maverick journalist I.F. Stone) to City Limits for 2010. The Izzy judges said the magazine's work last year provided “a model of in-depth urban journalism that examines systemic problems, challenges assumptions and points toward solutions.”
Read More:
City Limits - March 3, 2011
A Walk In The Park - November 15, 2010
A Walk In The Park - July 17, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft
A Walk In The Park - July 7, 2010 - By Geoffrey Croft
A Walk In The Park - July 4, 2010
A Walk In The Park - April 4, 2010
A Walk In The Park - March 6, 2010
A Walk In The Park - January 18, 2010
A Walk In The Park - November 24, 2009
Thank you for the mention, Mr. Croft. It should be noted, however, that the city paid $50,000 -- not $100,000 -- for the "deeply flawed" study.
ReplyDeletePublic Advocate Betsy Gotbaum had secured the $100,000 grant from the New York Community Trust. It was supposed to pay for turf testing, and she initially wanted to give the money to Bill Crain, a CUNY professor, and Junfeng Zhang, the chair of environmental and occupational health at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The Health Department badmouthed Crain and Zhang, recalled Gotbaum, though Zhang's pedigree is impressive. He shared in a 2007 Nobel Prize for contributing to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The city may have disliked the pair's earlier work, which was among the first to raise health concerns. Gotbaum agreed to have someone else test the turf.
Yet rather than test the turf, the city decided to spend half of the grant on the literature review. Gotbaum told me she opposed that and had "no idea" what happened to the remaining $50,000. The Parks Department refused to answer questions about it. My suspicion is that the remaining $50,000 paid for the city's later tests, which resulted in the destruction of the million-dollar field at Thomas Jefferson Park.
And, yes, the City Limits story does document how the city changed its testing method as soon as it had to destroy that field for high lead levels.