Happy Birthday Lew

Nigel has become a friend to many of us who continue to work towards the truth surrounding synthetic turf toxicity. We’ve had many phone calls. He’s a wonderfully humble Englishman, a medical professional: the former chief executive of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) of Cumbria and most importantly: Dad to Lewis Maguire.

Our beloved son Lewis John Marcel Maguire died peacefully from complications following a bone marrow transplant. He was and always will be my hero. The emptiness he leaves behind has left us all bereft and at sea. pic.twitter.com/8CXCKKrxVN

— Nigel Maguire (@Duran1177) March 17, 2018

“Lew” as Nigel affectionately calls him, lost his battle with cancer in March of 2018. 
Lew was 20 years old had Hodgkin lymphoma and he was an extraordinary Soccer player.

This man is not just forever heartbroken. He and Lew put themselves out there and did everything from writing the highest level of government to appearing on the international media circuit.

They wanted answers.
They wanted regulation.
They wanted change.
All of this while Lew fought cancer.

If you do one thing today, take the time to watch Dangerous Play (load in Chrome for English)

(Around the 34 minute mark) You’ll see Nigel and Lew standing at the gates of his training fields.....
“It looks very innocent...... it brings back bad memories.......I used to bring Lewis here week in and week out. If I knew then what I know now I would have never walked through those gates.” said Nigel.

Be an advocate for your child, be sure to look at the artificial grass they are playing on. Ask questions and don’t accept empty or vague answers.
We know plenty about tire crumb and now various types of #PFAS has become a true discovery at various levels in artificial grass.

There’s a simply wonderful answer and it’s grass. You have the power and the right to ask your child’s coach, school, town, sports league, soccer club (etc) to put their play on grass.

So what’s true? Nigel said: "I will continue to press for answers, not least because Lewis wanted those answers and I owe it to him to get them." and we’re with you Nigel.

Our beloved son Lewis John Marcel Maguire died peacefully from complications following a bone marrow transplant. He was and always will be my hero. The emptiness he leaves behind has left us all bereft and at sea. pic.twitter.com/8CXCKKrxVN

— Nigel Maguire (@Duran1177) March 17, 2018

On Martha's Vineyard: The synthetic turf industry bears striking similarities to mass tort catastrophes

see also:

On Crumb Rubber Moratoriums: is there "fiscal liability" ?

http://turfgrassforum.blogspot.com/2016/06/on-crumb-rubber-moratoriums-is-there.html

Toxic Use Reduction Institute on Artificial Turf

From Toxic Use Reduction Institute 

Artificial Turf
Sports Turf
Municipalities, universities, schools and other institutions frequently need to make decisions about maintenance and installation of athletic playing fields. This may include choosing between natural grass and synthetic turf. This information sheet introduces some of the considerations that are relevant to evaluating natural grass and artificial turf alternatives, including performance, safety, cost, and potential environmental and health impacts. More detailed information all these topics will be available in the Sports Turf Alternatives Assessment.
Read the Fact Sheet.(also found below)
Sports Turf Alternatives Assessment: Preliminary Results
TURI conducts alternatives assessments as part of its overall mission to help Massachusetts companies, communities, and municipalities identify and implement toxics use reduction options that will provide safer solutions to the use of toxic chemicals. 
TURI has received numerous requests for information about artificial turf fields as an alternative to natural grass fields. In response, TURI is developing an alternatives assessment for sports turf. Preliminary sections of the assessment are being published in the order in which they are completed.
Read the Introduction.
The TURI Library’s Artificial Turf resource guide provides links to reports, articles and press reports related to artificial turf.

Go to: http://www.turi.org/Our_Work/Home_Community/Artificial_Turf for more information

Medway Board of Health hears turf concerns

By Zachary Comeau/Daily News Staff

Posted Jan 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM

  

MEDWAY - Before it considers requiring signs warning of potential health risks to be placed on artificial turf fields in town, the Board of Health is reviewing information received from a group of concerned residents.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the board met with several residents who have been asking the town to do more research into the crumb rubber infill of the artificial turf fields.

Crumb rubber, which is essentially tiny pieces of recycled tires, provides stability and cushioning to the synthetic turf that was recently installed on two new fields at the high school. That $4.2 million project included replacing the turf on Hanlon Field, which was also filled with crumb rubber.

At the meeting, the group of residents asked the board to consider requiring signs at fields warning of the health risks some have associated with turf and crumb rubber.

Tracy Stewart, one of the residents involved, referenced signs at fields in other communities in different states that warn of harmful chemicals in the crumb rubber and of rising temperatures on the fields. Stewart and the group of residents provided 31 pages of information to the board, including a list of at least four chemicals in crumb rubber that are known carcinogens.

The temperature on the fields, she added, can reach over 130 degrees, causing the release of harmful chemicals in crumb rubber.

The concern comes after an NBC News story aired in October based on the testimony of an associate head coach for the University of Washington’s women’s soccer team, Amy Griffin. In the report, Griffin said she discovered “a stream of kids” who have played on artificial turf with crumb rubber infill have been diagnosed with cancer. She compiled a list of 38 American soccer players who have developed blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia.

Health Agent Stephanie Bacon said the board is reviewing the information provided by the residents before it even considers any action.

“It’s all stuff that the board has to definitely sit down and go through,” she said.

Bacon said more research has to be done, as there have been no credible scientific studies linking crumb rubber and artificial turf to cancer to “hang your hat on.”

“Everything is inconclusive,” she said. “Even when people have spent a lot of time on studies having to do with synthetic turf, there are so many bridges and gaps in the data.”

Stewart, however, said there is “definitely” information that proves the temperature on the fields can escalate to well above 100 degrees on warm days.

“Based on that alone, at the very least, the town should be posting something,” she said. “I think we owe that to parents and children of our community so they have the option to make a decision for their children.”

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/article/20150116/NEWS/150117447

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.