There's Lead in Turf
FALSE

You may have read the MSNBC article that hit the national news media on Friday, April 18.  It fails to mention the synthetic turf fields that
were closed are old style "AstroTurf" fields, not the new style "FieldTurf or SprintTurf" products.  The older AstroTurf fields are of nylon
construction that may contain lead.  The newer fields are made of polyethylene and have not been found to contain lead.  Of some 20 fields
tested, nylon and polyester, only these two field tested positive for high lead content. The Consumer Product Safety Commission
examination mentioned in the article was initiated over concerns that polyethylene style turf that contain granular rubber for cushioning may
contain hazardous material that may be inhaled or leach into the ground under the turf.

More Information
NJDHSS Gives FieldTurf Brand the Green Light
Article from the Princeton Packet
Turf Breeds Staph
FALSE

Football players were among the first to be infected with a strain of staph bacterium that's resistant to many common antibiotics. Trainers
have wondered if there's a connection between the infections and the synthetic turf installed on many fields.  But Penn State Turf Specialist
Andy McNitt says his research shows the fields aren't the source.

Crumb Rubber is Toxic
FALSE

In regards to the concerns raised on Long Island. J.C Broderick, & Associates, an independent environmental consulting firm, did testing
 on two separate fields on Long Island. You will find the links to their reports below. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon, (PAH’s) the chemicals
in question are found in many everyday items including shampoo, chargrilled foods, asphalt, roofing tar, dyes, plastics, pesticides, roasted
foods, and medicines. It is reported that the averagepopulation ingests 1-9 micrograms of PAH daily through the food they eat alone.

http://www.cityfieldsfoundation.org/documents/Broderick-Air-Comsewogue.pdf

http://www.cityfieldsfoundation.org/documents/Broderick-Air-Schreiber.pdf

The state of California commissioned the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessments to report on crumb rubber and tire shreds
used in playgrounds. OEHHA found the following:

 

Overall we considered it unlikely that one-time ingestions of tire shreds would produce any adverse health effects…no
sensitization in children nor would they be expected to elicit skin reactions in children already sensitized to latex. It is
unlikely that the use of shredded tires in outdoor applications such as playground surfaces would result in leaching
during rain events of high enough concentrations of chemicals…..Shredded tires used in applications above the ground
water table, as in the case for playground surfaces, produced no toxicity in sentinel species.