Duluth School Board Considers Replacing Playground Surfaces

Some parents feel the crumb rubber is a health risk.

Parents in the Duluth school district have become concerned with the rubber playground surfaces that their kids have been playing on.

They say the substance made from shredded tires contain toxins that could be harming their kids.

The group, Parents for Healthy Playgrounds, suggested going back to wood mulch and wood chips..

The school board first hosted the Minnesota Department of Health at their meeting.

The department says there’s not an imminent or acute health risk here, but there are still some lingering questions that need to be answered.

“There isn’t any reason for us to suspect there’s something in there that’s toxic to the point that we’re somehow not aware of it. Tires have been around for a long time and their constituents have been around for a long time and while the formulations of particular brands or types of tires might differ, I think we have a pretty good feeling of what’s actually there,” said James Kelly.

Currently studies are being done in California to weigh the long term risks of crumb rubber, but some parents don’t want to wait around for them to be completed.

“I don’t understand why we would wait three more years for a study to come back out when we could in the interim be saving money and having a healthier facility for our children,” said one concerned parent.

The crumb rubber was used in the first place because it’s often considered softer and safer to land on if a child falls.

The school board will continue to look at the issue.

A very preliminary cost for replacing all the school playgrounds in Duluth with wood mulch comes in at around $385,000 according to the Parents for Healthy Playgrounds.