Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Chemical Sensitivity to Granulated Tires on Play Grounds

[Racheli Gai (racheli]

Tires are toxic, there is no doubt about it.  The issue comes up 
sometimes
on the green building list I'm on (mostly in reference to earthships 
where
tires are a major component of the building materials).
If one is interested in more technical information, a good list to join
might  be:
http://www.buildinggreen.com/biblio/item.cfm?itemID=1214
which specializes in indoor air quality issues - I'm not on it, but I 
assume
that there would be some participants there who can give a more detailed
information on what it is in tires which makes them toxic (other than 
the
contact with asphalt, which is toxic).

Racheli.










On Nov 3, 2006, at 10:21 AM, Fred H Olson wrote:

> Around Oct 16 there was discussion about
> Subject: Pea gravel "pit" around playstructure
> that included some discussion of using recycled shreaded rubber tire
> around playstructures.  See for example (there are other messages):
> http://lists.cohousing.org/archives/cohousing-l/msg24637.html
>
> Today I received from Roslyn Hamilton <oebn [at] teleport.com> of the Oregon
> Ecobuilding Network,  information that passed thru several hands and 
> that
> was written in German ... about
>   Chemical Sensitivity to Granulated Tires on Play Grounds
> The message was posted to a mailing list about chemical sensitivity:
> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/csda/  but they do not have public
> archives.
>
> Below is the introduction (originally in English) to the csda list.
> The whole message is at: http://l.cohousing.org/tires.htm
> The web version includes the German message and an automated
> translation from Alta Vista Babel Fish Translation at Bottom.
>
> I do not know how relevant the German experience is to materials 
> available
> in the US that cohousing communities might consider using.
> I encourage anyone who cares to dig into this and post a more
> substantive message.
>
> Note that I think "MCS" referes to " Multiple Chemical Sensitivity".
>
> Fred, listserv manager
> --------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Lawrence A. Plumlee
> To: csda [at] yahoogroups.com
> Cc: info [at] dugi-ev.de
> Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 5:50 AM
> Subject: [csda] Hazard of Granulated Tires Used on Play Grounds with 
> Adhesive as Artificial Turf
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> The German Environmental Health Initiative (DUGI), a public interest
> group, writes today below that a child has developed severe MCS after
> playing on a playground made of granulated tires covered with adhesive.
> They ask for any information we may have about its toxicity.
>
> I know that the U.S. National Park Service has used ground tires in
> adhesive for building walkways over the Anacostia River at Kenilworth
> Gardens in Washington, DC.  I also know that whole tires discarded into
> the ocean in hopes that fish would grow in them have been a failure in
> that fish do not like them.  One hypothesis is that this is due to 
> toxic
> materials emanating from the tires.  I believe the City of New York has
> information on this, as would the New York and U.S. Environmental
> Protection Agencies.  Any information we have, or can obtain, would be
> helpful to those in Germany who are trying to remediate this problem.  
> It
> also may be a problem in the U.S.  Please send a copy of data you have 
> to
> <info [at] dugi-ev.de>
>
> Gratefully,
> Larry
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