Full Text of SR0118 100th General Assembly
SR0118enr 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 118
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Since the late 1990s, the installation and use of | 3 | | indoor and outdoor artificial turf fields with crumb rubber | 4 | | infill has grown exponentially across the United States and | 5 | | particularly in Illinois; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The costs to install artificial turf fields with | 7 | | crumb rubber range from $500,000 to well over one million | 8 | | dollars with a useful life of six to 12 years depending on | 9 | | usage and maintenance; maintenance costs which include | 10 | | disinfecting are around $100,000 annually; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The installation of artificial turf fields with | 12 | | crumb rubber infill is largely paid for by taxpayer dollars; a | 13 | | typical artificial turf field uses between 20,000 to 40,000 | 14 | | ground up car and truck tires for its crumb rubber infill; the | 15 | | crumb rubber industry came out of an effort to figure out how | 16 | | to dispose of millions of used tires that were considered too | 17 | | toxic to dump into landfills; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, On October 8, 2014, NBC News aired a national | 19 | | report, "How Safe is the Artificial Turf Your Child Plays On?" | 20 | | that brought the issue of crumb rubber into the national | 21 | | consciousness; Amy Griffin, the former United States women's | 22 | | national team goalkeeper coach at the University of Washington, |
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| 1 | | compiled a list that now contains the names of over 230 | 2 | | athletes, most of whom are soccer players, particularly | 3 | | goalies, that have been stricken with cancer due to repeated | 4 | | contact with crumb rubber; since that NBC report, there have | 5 | | been many other reports across the United States and Europe | 6 | | about the safety of crumb rubber, particularly for young | 7 | | children; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Today, children as young as 18 months are playing | 9 | | sports, particularly soccer, on crumb rubber artificial turf | 10 | | fields; more and more children are playing sports on these | 11 | | fields with the presumption that the fields are safe; children | 12 | | can be exposed to highly toxic crumb rubber substances through | 13 | | inhalation, skin absorption, and accidental ingestion; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The scientific name for crumb rubber is | 15 | | styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), and according to OSHA, chronic | 16 | | exposure to both styrene and butadiene can harm the central | 17 | | nervous system of children; the EPA has classified butadiene as | 18 | | a known human carcinogen; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, In June of 2015, Environment and Human Health, | 20 | | Inc., an organization of physicians and public health | 21 | | professionals, conducted a study of 14 samples of crumb rubber | 22 | | at Yale University and found that 96 chemicals were found in | 23 | | crumb rubber infill; of the 96 chemicals that were found, 20% |
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| 1 | | were carcinogenic, about 50% had not been tested for toxicity, | 2 | | and many had incomplete toxicity testing completed; another 40% | 3 | | were found to be skin and eye irritants and also causes of | 4 | | breathing problems; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, New York and Connecticut-based studies found that | 6 | | crumb rubber infill "off-gassed" toxic chemicals; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Tire rubber is composed of 30% to 40% of "carbon | 8 | | black" which is suspected to being a cancer-causing agent; no | 9 | | studies regarding long-term exposure to carbon black on indoor | 10 | | or outdoor fields have been conducted; tires may also contain | 11 | | "carbon nanotubes" which some scientists believe may act | 12 | | similar to asbestos when inhaled into the lungs and cause | 13 | | cancer; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The crumb rubber industry and recycling | 15 | | industries tout crumb rubber as 100% safe, often referring to | 16 | | studies that have already been completed and statements made by | 17 | | the EPA and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 2008; | 18 | | however, in 2013 CPSC Chairman Elliot Kay said his 2008 CPSC | 19 | | statement "does not reflect my view on the state of play. Safe | 20 | | to play on means something to parents that I don't think we | 21 | | intended to convey"; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, On January 28, 2016, due to the lack of reliable |
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| 1 | | studies on the safety of crumb rubber, the CDC, EPA, and CPSC | 2 | | initiated a multi-agency plan to study the long-term effects of | 3 | | crumb rubber exposure on human health; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, The use of crumb rubber is unregulated and lacks | 5 | | safety oversight by any governmental agency; furthermore, | 6 | | crumb rubber was excluded from classifications as a "children's | 7 | | product" and thus exempt from laws on chemicals "of high | 8 | | concern for children" found in children's products; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, When applying crumb rubber to turf fields, workers | 10 | | are advised to wear respirators in order to protect them from | 11 | | inhaling crumb rubber dust; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, There are no requirements to inform field users | 13 | | about the chemical content, associated risk, or precautionary | 14 | | guidelines regarding crumb rubber dust; parents are often told | 15 | | by the turf field owner that these fields are safe based on | 16 | | unreliable static air quality testing; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Citing the safety of its students, the Los Angeles | 18 | | Unified School District, the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation | 19 | | Department, the New York City Department of Parks and | 20 | | Recreation, the Chicago Public Schools, as well as other | 21 | | communities across the country have moved away from using crumb | 22 | | rubber infill in favor of a non-petroleum based alternative |
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| 1 | | infill for their turf fields like sand or cork; therefore, be | 2 | | it
| 3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
| 4 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the State of | 5 | | Illinois to monitor and,
to the extent feasible, cooperate with | 6 | | the federal agencies that are studying the long-term effects
of | 7 | | crumb rubber exposure on human health; and be it further | 8 | | RESOLVED, That we urge the owners and operators of any | 9 | | indoor or outdoor facility
that has artificial turf containing | 10 | | crumb rubber infill and that is used by children between the
| 11 | | ages of 18 months and 12 years to post at the facility a notice | 12 | | which (i) states that the facility
uses an artificial turf with | 13 | | crumb rubber infill, (ii) informs users of the facility about | 14 | | the 2016
multi-agency federal crumb rubber study and about the | 15 | | possible chemical exposure to children
playing on crumb rubber | 16 | | infill, and (iii) describes a location where additional | 17 | | information about
the 2016 multi-agency federal crumb rubber | 18 | | study can be obtained.
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