# What is the deal with crumb rubber safety? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147 "2011-01-10T22:19:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147/1 "2011-01-10T22:19:34Z")
I had always figured that crumb rubber was great for playgrounds and the like, but now I’m hearing that it releases toxic chemicals. I can’t anything useful except [this](http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?Q=391566&A=2826) which is hardly damming given the nature of the experiment. Beyond this, it seems like it is mostly alarmists and people selling crumb rubber. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147/2 "2011-01-10T22:51:53Z")
You know how many MOLECULES are in that shit? ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147/3 "2011-01-11T00:02:53Z")
Eventually, everything in your life will have been found to be highly toxic. And then it will be exonerated. It’s probably accurate that almost everything you touch or eat contains noxious chemicals that given the right amount of exposure and combination with other compounds, will contribute to your death. Someone, whether it be the government. mega-corporations or just the nightly news seeking ratings boosts, wants us to live in a constant state of fear. You’re going to die eventually and there’s a good chance you’ll never know what the tipping point was. If something is extremely dangerous, the government will jump on it immediately. Otherwise, you just have to decide where you’re willing to take the risk. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147/4 "2011-01-11T02:18:14Z")
Funny, I thought I put this in GQ. I generally agree, but to convince others of this, I need nonbiased information. It’s almost impossible to find. Also, I was told that it was not good to mulch your garden with. I haven’t found any information on that at all. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147/5 "2011-01-11T02:54:07Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147/6 "2011-01-11T07:00:51Z")
Gee, I wonder if they run the same tests on asphalt found on many playgrounds? Or the treated lumber on playgrounds? Or the fertilizers and other chemicals used on grasses and shrubs on playgrounds? Or the mulch used around those plants? Or the plastics used in playground equipment? Or the used tire swings? Or the vehicular chemical droppings in the parking lots? Then there are natural land mines … ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147/7 "2011-01-12T23:37:18Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Gee, I wonder if they run the same tests on asphalt found on many playgrounds? Or the treated lumber on playgrounds? Or the fertilizers and other chemicals used on grasses and shrubs on playgrounds? Or the mulch used around those plants? Or the plastics used in playground equipment? Or the used tire swings? Or the vehicular chemical droppings in the parking lots? > > Then there are natural land mines … Well, we now suggest that you don’t use treated lumber (railroad ties, etc.) on school or daycare playgrounds (nor in your raised garden beds). We clean up schools and daycares that have evidence of past land use that may be harmful (in my state that would be former orchard land due to pesticides left in the top six to twelve inches of soil). We mostly worry about things that could actually have an exposure pathway–off-gasing in confined spaces, eating contaminated dirt, drinking contaminated water. I haven’t heard of a problem with the crumb rubber yet but who knows what we’ll be need to clean up in the future… ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147/8 "2011-01-13T14:20:54Z")
> [@stretch](#): > > Well, we now suggest that you don’t use treated lumber (railroad ties, etc.) on school or daycare playgrounds (nor in your raised garden beds). We clean up schools and daycares that have evidence of past land use that may be harmful (in my state that would be former orchard land due to pesticides left in the top six to twelve inches of soil). We mostly worry about things that could actually have an exposure pathway–off-gasing in confined spaces, eating contaminated dirt, drinking contaminated water. I haven’t heard of a problem with the crumb rubber yet but who knows what we’ll be need to clean up in the future… I’m sure the kind of people who ride fixie bicycles with no brakes, refuse to wear helmets, and who do not get their kids vaccinated will continue to lecture us all on the danger of “toxic chemicals”. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-crumb-rubber-safety/567147/9 "2011-01-13T15:25:44Z")
I don’t wear a bike helmet when I ride. And I find “crumb rubber” to be a elusively nasty phrase.