Toxic Park in Brooklyn Heights?

The Brooklyn Heights Blog reports on an article published in today's Brooklyn Daily Eagle about the tiny pellets in the fake grass that the City is rolling out into hundreds of parks, including Cadman Plaza Park. It turns out that the pellets, made from recycled tires, could be toxic to humans and pets:

"The city recently announced plans to carpet nearly 100 more fields with synthetic turf, made springy by a bed of rubber pellets spread beneath their surface. The problem is the lack of conclusive studies on the safety of the pellets, which stick to bloody scrapes and sweaty skin and find their way into socks, said one local professor calling for a moratorium on synthetic turf until more research is conducted. Preliminary testing indicated the rubber pellets, made from recycled tires, contain high levels of polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that exceed levels deemed safe by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, according to City College psychology professor William Crain ...

See here for the full story.

Previous articles on this topic here.

Photo of youth playing football on the new synthetic turf in the still unopened Cadman Park (after sneaking under the fence) by MK Metz, Brooklyn photojournalist.