A Case Study of Tire Crumb Use on Playgrounds: Risk Analysis and Communication When Major Clinical Knowledge Gaps Exist

Physicians and public health professionals working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 8 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) received several telephone calls requesting information regarding the safety of recycled tire crumb as a playground surface constitue...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental health perspectives 2006-01, Vol.114 (1), p.1-3
Main Authors: Anderson, Mark E., Kirkland, Katherine H., Guidotti, Tee L., Rose, Cecile
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemical hazards
Child
Children
Commentaries
Commentaries & Reviews
Communication
Conservation of Natural Resources
Constituents
Copyrights
Environment
Environmental Exposure
Environmental Health
Exposure
Gaps
Health
Humans
Information resources
Medicine
Mutagenicity Tests
Natural resources
Play and Playthings
Playgrounds
Public health
Recycled
Recycling
Risk
Risk analysis
Risk Assessment
Risk communication
Rubber
Safety
Surveying
Synthesis
Telephone calls
Tires
United States
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Waste management
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Summary:Physicians and public health professionals working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 8 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) received several telephone calls requesting information regarding the safety of recycled tire crumb as a playground surface constituent placed below children's play structures. There were no reported symptoms or adverse health effects in exposed children. The literature available on the safety and risk of exposure to crumb rubber constituents was limited and revealed no information quantifying exposures associated with product use. Callers were informed by the PEHSU that no evidence existed suggesting harm from intended use of the product, but gaps in knowledge about the product were identified and communicated. Here the case of crumb rubber on playgrounds is used as a model to present an approach to similar environmental medicine questions. From defining the question, to surveying traditional and nontraditional resources for information, synthesis of findings, and risk communication, the case provides a model to approach similar questions.
ISSN:0091-6765
1552-9924
DOI:10.1289/ehp.7629