PFAS

EPIC identified research priorities to improve our understanding of synthetic turf and its potential issues

On the request of the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, the Environmental Plastics Innovation Cluster (EPIC) at the University of Newcastle has identified research priorities to fully understand the potential risks associated with microplastics and chemical exposure from synthetic turf, including insitu and ex-situ experiments in parallel:

NSW Chief Scientists Report, Appendix 19 – Environmental Plastics

Artificial Turf: A Health-Based Consumer Guide

Based upon the presence of known toxic substances in tire rubber and the lack of comprehensive safety studies, The Children’s Environmental Health Center of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai urges a moratorium on the use artificial turf generated from recycled rubber tires.

Eight takeaways from The Inquirer’s yearlong investigation into ‘forever chemicals’

Sprinturf, the turf’s manufacturer, had assured the city that the field was PFAS-free, and shared a lab report to support its claim. The newspaper asked three PFAS experts to independently review the report. Each said the results were misleading and inadequate, and that the field likely still contained forever chemicals. “The city was bamboozled,” said Kyla Bennett, a former EPA official who is now the director of science policy for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Urban Runoff Mortality Syndrome (URMS): 6-PPD quinone & HMMM

Eurofins Environment Testing Australia now offers the targeted analysis of 6-PPD quinone & HMMM by isotope dilution LC-MS/MS in wastewaters and stormwater run-off as well as playground rubber crumb samples. These emerging contaminants have been implicated in what is called Urban Runoff Mortality Syndrome (URMS) that gained notoriety in early 2021 when scientists from University of Washington using high-resolution accurate mass liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QToF-MS) documented tyre additives and their degradants viz 6-PPD and its ozonation product 6-PPD quinone that were responsible for the deaths of Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in Pacific Northwest America.

Classed as emerging contaminants, our Team in Brisbane have developed a method to determine 6-PPD quinone and HMMM at parts per trillion (ppt) levels in surface water, sediments, and rubber crumb widely used in sports fields and playgrounds as well as some multipurpose outdoor activity areas.