Is Asbestos Contaminating the Playground?

Neighborhood and school playgrounds are essential places where kids play, bond with each other, and make friends. The general expectation is that these playgrounds are safe and clean. However, too many playgrounds across the U.S. haven't succeeded in respecting basic safety regulations and are not well-maintained.

Moreover, some may pose environmental health hazards, and children are more vulnerable to these harmful factors because their bodies are still growing. Additionally, children like to explore, which can expose them to more environmental threats than adults. They also do not know how to identify and protect themselves from dangerous materials lurking in:

• sand
• mulch
• surfacing

The sand in playground sandboxes may not be a natural beach or river sand. Play sand is often made of crushed rock or crystalline silica, a known carcinogen from quartz stone. Another component may be tremolite, a form of asbestos and another recognized carcinogen. Dust from play sand may contain these hazardous substances; weathering and repeated disturbing can lead to further crumbling and fiber separation, producing more asbestos-containing dust. A study found that commercially sold children's play sand may contain asbestos fibers and that exposure levels could surpass occupational limits.

Given that even minimal doses of asbestos exposure can potentially increase the risk of developing severe diseases linked to asbestos for four to six decades, the hazards are imminent. The risk of crystalline silica and asbestos exposure is most significant to workers who handle the material daily. Although it's a far more intense and prolonged exposure than that of a child in the sandbox, there's the fact that children breathe proportionately more air than adults, and they play close to the ground, where dust swirls about.

If mulch is made from timber waste from construction and demolition sites, playground mulch may contain asbestos.

Asbestos-contaminated serpentine may have been used to surface playgrounds in areas where serpentine rock is common. In California, the Air Resources Board has recommended the inspection of playgrounds for this type of surfacing. Serpentine rock occurs naturally in many western U.S. regions and some parts of the East Coast, abounding in the Coastal ranges, the Klamath Mountains, and the Sierra foothills in California.

Asbestos Could Be Lurking in School's Playgrounds

Although various federal and local laws address asbestos in schools, some districts face additional concerns. Asbestos-containing serpentine may have been used to surface schoolyards and playgrounds in geographic areas rich in serpentine rock. An area surfaced with grayish-green to bluish-black crushed rock or gravel raises suspicion of possible asbestos-contaminated serpentine rock.

A registered geologist can check the surfacing for serpentine content in such cases. If confirmed, the material should be tested to determine if asbestos is present. Until results are ready, general asbestos exposure prevention rules recommend sealing, removing, or covering the serpentine to prevent disturbance.