PP Yarn Fibers | Artificial Grass & Synthetic Lawn Industry INFO

Calif AG Strikes Agreement To Limit Lead (Pb) in Artificial Turf Grass Yarn From Crystal Products, AstroTurf & SynLawn

Brown Creates Nation’s First Enforceable Lead Standards for Artificial Turf Grass Yarns

OAKLAND-Fighting to ensure the safety of children’s playgrounds and ball fields, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed off on an agreement requiring Georgia-based AstroTurf, LLC, [Crystal Products Co., Inc. d/b/a SYNLawn, UGTH Equipment, LLC, General Sports Venue, LLC, and Synthetic Turf Resources, LLC (“Settling Defendants”), among the Defendants named in the complaint,] to virtually eliminate lead from its artificial grass, creating the country’s first enforceable lead standards for artificial turf products.

“As schools and daycare centers replace grass with artificial turf, extreme care must be taken to minimize lead exposure,” Brown said. “This agreement is the first of its kind and will help make playgrounds and ball fields safe for our children.”

In 2008, Brown filed suit against AstroTurf, Crystal Products, and SynLawn for excessive lead levels after testing by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) found high levels in artificial turf products. Brown’s office independently tested AstroTurf and other artificial turf products and confirmed CEH’s findings. AstroTurf immediately took steps to begin reformulating its products.

Today’s consent judgment requires AstroTurf to reformulate its products so that they contain less than 100 parts per million (ppm), and to further reduce lead levels to 50 ppm by June 2010. Lab results found that some AstroTurf products contained more than 5,000 ppm lead. Lead was added to keep the colors vibrant over time. AstroTurf will be prohibited from selling any existing stock that doesn’t meet these standards.

AstroTurf will also provide a grant of $60,000 to the Public Health Trust to fund “wipe testing” of dislodgeable lead on artificial turf fields at daycare centers, schools and public playing fields in California. If the level of dislodgeable lead exceeds the specified replacement level, AstroTurf will provide replacement turf to the daycare center, school or public field at no cost.

AstroTurf will also provide a mailed warning to all customers who purchased its products in California in the past five years. The warning will (1) inform customers that the turf products contain lead; (2) explain “good maintenance practices” that can effectively reduce exposures to lead; and (3) advise the customers of the availability of the program to test and replace old turf products. AstroTurf will also establish a website to provide information to the public on lead content in its products.

The Los Angeles City Attorney and Solano County District Attorney joined Brown in the case against AstroTurf. In addition to its obligation to replace products that exceed acceptable lead levels, the company will pay $170,000 in civil penalties, grants and attorney fees.

“Today’s agreement with AstroTurf sets a strong standard for other companies who have not yet agreed to eliminate lead risks to children from turf,” said CEH Executive Director Michael Green. “Lead is a stunningly toxic chemical that has no place in playing fields for children. We applaud the Attorney General, the LA City Attorney, the Solano County DA and AstroTurf for this accord to protect California’s children.”

For More Information Please Contact Calif AG’s office at:
(916) 324-5500

Download a copy of the PROP 65 Consent Judgment HERE

ASGi August 14, 2009 ASTM, Artificial Turf Yarn Fibers, Bans of Turf, CDC Info, CPSC, Calif State, Crumb Rubber, EPA, Health & Environment, Infill Solutions, Lead & Heavy Metals, OSHA, PE & PP Yarn Fibers, PP Yarn Fibers, Parks & Rec, Prop 65, Testing, cpsia, lawsuits, standards Add new tag, Artificial Grass, Artificial Grass Association, Artificial Grass Fields, artificial grass install guide, artificial turf, Artificial Turf Georgia, artificial turf information, Artificial Turf Market, california, Field Related Info, hazards, heavy metals, Prop 65 Artificial Turf Settlement, synthetic grass, synthetic turf, Synthetic Turf Council, Testing No Comments

Synthetic Turf Council Statement to CPSC re: Lead Use In Artificial Turf Market

Abstract:

Dr. Eddy Bresnitz,
Deputy Commissioner and State Epidemiologist, NJDHSS, said,
“Available evidence suggests that there is no acute health risks due to use of artificial turf fields, and risks due to chronic and repeated exposure are unlikely.” The three NJ fields tested negative for lead in the air above them, and the soil below them. The blood lead levels of over 70 children who regularly played on one of the fields tested at or below the national average.

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The Facts

In over 40 years, there has been no evidence or science to suggest that synthetic turf poses a risk to human health or the environment.

· Encapsulated Lead Chromate in Synthetic Turf is Not a Health Hazard. Recent disclosures by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services that 3 synthetic turf sports fields tested with elevated levels of lead resulted in a warning about lead levels in synthetic turf. It is an ingredient in pigments used to color and improve colorfastness in many consumer products like synthetic turf. Over 90% of synthetic turf fibers contain pigments with very low or undetectable levels of lead chromate;

· Encapsulated Lead chromate is almost completely insoluble. It is encapsulated in glass and resin, and diluted so that it has extremely low bioavailability. It is not absorbed by the body if ingested or inhaled. It does not leach into the environment;

· Extremely Low Bioavailability of Encapsulated Lead Chromate. The Center for Disease Control’s Lead Prevention Program (1997-2006) identified no risks from synthetic turf during its investigation of 763,216 childhood exposures to lead. Of the nearly 40,000 cases of high blood lead concentrations in children reported in 2006, none were attributed to exposure to synthetic turf.

· Scientists Support Synthetic Turf Has Few Health Risks.

“There is no scientific evidence of a health risk for children or adults based on recent test results and current knowledge of the chemical structure of aged synthetic turf products,” concluded Davis Lee, Ph.D., synthetic organic chemistry, and David Black, Ph.D., forensic toxicology, April 21, 2008. Drs. Lee and Black calculated that a 50-lb. child would have to ingest an over 10 square feet of synthetic turf to receive 90 ppm of lead, the U.S. toy industry’s voluntary standard for migratory lead.

Market Developments for Synthetic Turf Fibers:

New Research is underway to ensure the product is safe. New pigment formulations are being developed to continue to reduce encapsulated lead chromate levels for all of our colors without compromising performance required by buyers.

To download a PDF of the complete statement, please go to our F.R.E.E. Public Download Library by clicking on this link: STC_Statement_CPSC_Lead_05.08_.pdf

ASGi May 16, 2008 Field Related Info, Grass Surface Info, Health & Environment, Industry News, Lead & Heavy Metals, Nylon Yarn Fibers, PE, PE & PP Yarn Fibers, PP Yarn Fibers, Prop 65 artificial turf, fibers, Field Related Info, Market, STC, synthetic turf, Synthetic Turf Council, Yarns No Comments

Artificial Turf Yarn Fibers – What is Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP) and Polyurethane (PU)?

Other plastics emerged in the prewar period, launching off the success of nylon, though some would not come into widespread use until after the war.

Another important plastic, polyethylene (PE), sometimes known as polythene, was discovered in 1933 by Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett at the British industrial giant Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). This material evolved into two forms, low density polyethylene (LDPE), and high density polyethylene (HDPE).

PEs are cheap, flexible, durable, and chemically resistant. LDPE is used to make films and packaging materials, while HDPE is used for containers, plumbing, and automotive fittings. While PE has low resistance to chemical attack, it was found later that a PE container could be made much more robust by exposing it to fluorine gas, which modified the surface layer of the container into the much tougher polyfluoroethylene.

Polyethylene would lead after the war to an improved material, polypropylene (PP), which was discovered in the early 1950s by Giulio Natta. It is common in modern science and technology that the growth of the general body of knowledge can lead to the same inventions in different places at about the same time, but polypropylene was an extreme case of this phenomenon, being separately invented about nine times. The ensuing litigation was not resolved until 1989.

Polypropylene managed to survive the legal process and two American chemists working for Phillips Petroleum, J. Paul Hogan and Robert Banks, are now generally credited as the “official” inventors of the material. Polypropylene is similar to its ancestor, polyethylene, and shares polyethylene’s low cost, but it is much more robust. It is used in everything from plastic bottles to carpets to plastic furniture, and is very heavily used in automobiles.

Polyurethane was invented by Friedrich Bayer & Company in 1937, and would come into use after the war, in blown form for mattresses, furniture padding, and thermal insulation. It is also one of the components (in non-blown form) of the fiber spandex.

Two chemists named Rex Whinfield and James Dickson, working at a small English company with the quaint name of the “Calico Printer’s Association” in Manchester, developed polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) in 1941, and it would be used for synthetic fibers in the postwar era, with names such as polyester, dacron, and terylene.

PET is less gas-permeable than other low-cost plastics and so is a popular material for making bottles for Coca-Cola and other carbonated drinks, since carbonation tends to attack other plastics, and for acidic drinks such as fruit or vegetable juices. PET is also strong and abrasion resistant, and is used for making mechanical parts, food trays, and other items that have to endure abuse. PET films are used as a base for recording tape.

Continue to read Wikpedia HERE

SPI Recycle Code for Plastics (Resins) – HERE