DEL.ICIO.USGeorgia, Florida turf firms sued over lead-based coloring
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, September 05, 2008
San Diego — Artificial turf may save water and reduce pesticides, but some brands from manufacturers in Georgia and Florida contain lead-based coloring that can harm consumers — especially children — according to lawsuits filed in California.
California’s attorney general is suing three of the artificial grass makers, while the nonprofit Center for Environmental Health is suing several others, claiming they violated California’s strict environmental laws by failing to disclose that their products contain lead.
2003 AJC file photo
Rick Evans and Ron Evans separate fibers on artificial turf inside the Georgia Dome. The turf is in use nationwide.
The turf products at the center of the disputes are widely used for athletic fields, lawn replacements and for indoor/outdoor carpeting, not just in California but nationwide. They’re sold by big retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe’s as well as by specialty companies.
Named in the lawsuit by California Attorney General Jerry Brown are Beaulieu Group and Astroturf LLC of Georgia and Fieldturf USA of Florida.
Defendants in the lawsuit by the Center for Environmental Health are Beaulieu Group, Shaw Industries and Turf Headquarters of Georgia, and Synthetic Turf International of Florida.
According to the suits filed this week, all the companies use or used pigments containing lead that can rub off on consumers’ hands or feet or be accidentally ingested by children and pets.
Representatives of artificial turf makers say they were somewhat surprised by the California lawsuits, given that most manufacturers are already voluntarily phasing out their use of lead-based pigments and that federal regulators have said their current products are safe.
Michael Green, executive director of the Center for Environmental Health, said the suits were filed mainly to make sure companies’ live up to their promises to get the lead out.
“It’s one thing if companies make a promise and say they’ll do [something],” Green said. “But if they have a legally binding agreement that says they’ll do [something], consumers will now be sure they will do it.”
Lead has been found to cause cancer, birth defects and other health problems and is especially harmful to developing children.
Since 1986, companies selling products containing elevated levels of lead in California must disclose it to consumers under state law. Last month, President Bush signed legislation that essentially bans lead from children’s toys by 2012. Federal authorities also are looking into more stringent lead standards for other products.
In July, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that lead levels in 14 samples of artificial turf it tested were not high enough to harm children, but the agency also encouraged the industry to eventually eliminate the use of lead.
As a result, many manufacturers voluntarily agreed to meet the new federal lead standards for toys under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 signed by Bush in August.
“Based on what we’ve already said and what has already been announced, I think most people are pretty comfortable that the product is safe and that this is a legal technicality” in California, said Rick Doyle, president of the Synthetic Turf Council, an industry group based in Atlanta.
At Dalton-based Beaulieu of America, attorney Peter Farley said his company quit using lead-based pigments in its indoor/outdoor carpeting beginning in mid-July, even though it believes its previous products didn’t violate the California standards and even though the Consumer Product Safety Commission cleared artificial turf for sale.
Farley said Beaulieu is working closely with the California attorney general’s office and the Center for Environmental Health to resolve remaining concerns.
The center’s Green confirmed that much of the industry is cooperating with his group and with the state.
Most of the artificial turf industry is based in Georgia and surrounding states, where it grew out of the region’s carpet industry.
In recent years, droughts and environmental concerns have helped the industry grow by 10 percent to 15 percent annually, according to Doyle of the Synthetic Turf Council.
The Northeast is the biggest region of the country for using artificial turf, but California is the biggest state for it, he said.
Artificial turf makers use pigments containing lead chromate because it helps keep colors from fading, and also because such pigments can be cheaper than other types of coloring.
A study by the Center for Environmental Health, which ultimately triggered the suit by the California attorney general’s office, showed that some turf samples contained lead levels 150 times the limits outlined in the new federal standards for toys.
The center’s study was much more extensive than the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s, said Green. It involved 200 samples from 30 companies.
This isn’t the first time the group’s findings on lead have run contrary to those of the commission.
The group was instrumental in forcing a major recall of children’s lunch boxes last year after it found elevated levels of lead in them — despite Consumer Product Safety Commission findings to the contrary.
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