NEWNAN, Georgia — The money is budgeted, the athletic committee has given the go-ahead and Superintendent Steve Barker has his recommendation ready.
So why has the Coweta County School System not moved ahead with installing artificial turf on its high school football fields in the two and a half years since the project was first proposed?
Because it could be a killer.
In October 2014, just as Barker was preparing to recommend approval of the turf installation to the Coweta County Board of Education, an NBC news report caught his attention. Later picked up and expanded upon by numerous other media outlets, the story hinted at a link between “crumb rubber” — tiny particles of recycled tires used as cushioning in artificial turf — and cancer in athletes who played primarily on that surface.
“It sparked debate about the safety of this material,” Barker said. “I recommended to the board that we place the project on hold until more information was available.”
Spurred on by the news reports, federal officials directed the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission to examine possible health threats posed by crumb rubber infill — which is used in the artificial turf Barker was just about to recommend installing in Coweta County. The three organizations initiated a joint research project in February 2016.
Artificial turf has found its way onto tens of thousands of athletic fields, playgrounds and other safety surfaces frequented by children and young athletes. For high school stadiums like those in Coweta County, artificial turf would mean year-round use and a consistent playing surface, according to Barker.
