Football chiefs "have been urged to look into claims artificial football pitches are a cancer risk," according to Liam Corliss of the London DAILY MIRROR.
A report claims that "the rubber substances scattered around synthetic pitches, so often the annoyance of five-a-side footballers around the country, contain toxic chemicals including mercury, lead, benzene and arsenic, which can increase the risk of cancer when ingested."
The fear is that players -- in particular goalkeepers -- "could accidentally swallow the substance when diving, while the rubber could also become lodged in cuts and grazes."
A number of professional clubs in the U.K. "urged FIFA to look into the matter." University of Washington coach Amy Griffin, a former World Cup-winning goalkeeper for the U.S. women's national team, said that "she had found over 158 cases of footballers developing cancer while doing her research and she believes artificial pitches could be a contributory factor."
Made up of old tires, crumb rubber infill "are the small beads which are spread on artificial surfaces to protect the grass and improve the playing surface." Eric O'Donnell, a synthetic pitch consultant, "denied the claims and maintained the pitches are safe to play on." He said,
"Our labs test these materials on a regular basis and you would need to ingest vast quantities to have any impact on your health. Would I let my children play on it? Yes and I do" (DAILY MIRROR, 2/1).