GLIOBLASTOMA !!!

Have any of you guys read Philadelphia Enquirer's study on the close relation between synthetic grass and glioblastoma, the most agressive form of brain cancer that killed 6 Phillies Ken Brett, Johnny Oates, Tug McGraw, John Vukovich, Darren Daulton and David West... all of them in their fifties...and numerous others across the Major Leagues and other sports...

Quite schocking...

I knew it was a disaster for the knees... but then...

Sounds terrible if there is a linkage.

Good thing we have an uncorrupted health and safety oversight funtion in the US government that is the most expensive in the world with dedicated people watching for exactly that type of thing....

Yeah........

Seriously, I had not heard of that and it is worth knowing.

That's why I go to the healer that Kramer took George to!

That's why I go to the healer that Kramer took George to!

Dude me and you eye to eye man LOL

Yikes! Very sorry to hear this. I hadn't known about it.

I checked out a wikipedia article on "Artificial turf-cancer hypothesis" [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_turf–cancer_hypothesis[/url] and found this information:

A 2019 Yale study showed that there were 306 chemicals in crumb rubber and that 52 of these chemicals were classified as carcinogens by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They stated that "a vacuum in our knowledge about the carcinogenic properties of many crumb rubber infill. The crumb rubber infill of artificial turf fields contains or emits chemicals that can affect human physiology."[6]

A 2021 study published in Science of the Total Environment analyzed the composition of synthetic turf football pitches from 17 countries. It confirmed the presence of "hazardous substances in the recycled crumb rubber samples collected all around the world" including PAHs of high and very high concern. The study concluded that different stakeholders "must work on a consensus to protect not only human health but also the environment, since there is evidence that crumb rubber hazardous chemicals can reach the environment and affect wildlife." [7]

In March of 2023, investigative reporters from the Philadelphia Inquirer bought souvenir samples of the old Veterans Stadium artificial turf and commissioned diagnostics through the Eurofins Environmental Testing laboratory. The resulting lab report linked per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the turf. Six former Philadelphia Phillies who played at Veterans Stadium, home to the team from 1971 to 2003, died from glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer: Tug McGraw, Darren Daulton, John Vukovich, John Oates, Ken Brett, and David West.[8]

That last item is obviously the Inquirer article cited by chaberial.

This would seem to imply that playing on plastic grass, hour after hour, day after day in the broiling sun might have negative health effects. Who could have guessed?

BTW, the wiki article cites another observation regarding soccer players on artificial turf:

In 2014, Amy Griffin, soccer coach at the University of Washington, surveyed American players of the sport who had developed cancer. Of 38 players, 34 were goalkeepers, a position in which diving to the surface makes accidental ingestion or blood contact with crumb rubber more likely, Griffin has asserted. Lymphoma and leukemia, cancers of the blood, predominated.[10]

Notably, five of the six of the Phillies who died of glioblastoma were catchers or pitchers. Maybe they all spent an unusual amount of time crouching or finishing their follow through at or near ground level in relation to the turf.

Gary "THE KID" Carter was another victim,,,

Also in his mid-fifties...

I think that article also discusses some other distinctions. Of note, no Eagles players got cancer over that same period playing on the same turf. So I believe the study concluded that it was the combination of heating up those surfaces during the summer months which made the toxins air bourn. I apologize if I misquoted anything, but my initial reaction was what about the football players that played on the same surface and my recollection was that they answered that question.

That's a logical question childsmwc.
I think that as with any exposure, it is usually duration and concentration that matter.
I don't have ideas here but you hit on reasonable thoughts, and I added to them further.

More games and practice sessions (81+ vs maybe 8-9). Football teams almost never practice on the game field, while baseball might. (duration)
Higher temps in the warmer part of the year certainly could increase the outgassing rate. (concentration)
Either way, one would think the oddity of such a rare cancer being observed in so many people that shared this common thread should at least rouse some intellectual curiosity.

Yikes! Very sorry to hear this. I hadn't known about it.

sorry I missed your post somehow--I think I repeated much of what you already shared but you had even more data there

The more I think about it--It is maddening.

No worries about repetition, Frankie. We're all trying to figure this out.
And chaberiel, you're right about Gary Carter, too. Here's what wiki has to say about his death. Reading this is not for the squeamish.

In May 2011, Carter was diagnosed with four malignant tumors in his brain after experiencing headaches and forgetfulness. Doctors confirmed that he had a grade IV primary brain tumor known as glioblastoma multiforme. Doctors said that the extremely aggressive cancer was inoperable and Carter would undergo other treatment methods to shrink his tumor.[51][52] On January 20, 2012, daughter Kimmy posted on her blog that an MRI had revealed additional tumors on her father's brain. Even as he battled an aggressive form of brain cancer, Carter did not miss Opening Day for the college baseball team he coached.[53]

Carter died on February 16, 2012, at the age of 57.

Carter died in 2012. Daulton had brain surgery for glioblastoma in 2013 and died in 2017 at age 55. Catcher Johnny Oates died in 2004 of glioblastoma.

It's amazing that it took so long for people to start putting this together. Soccer folks have been looking at it for a while, though without making much headway agains the turf. In the case of baseball, it was not doctors or scientists or team officials or even the Players Union that researched it, but a newspaper, the Inquirer that finally bought souvenir turf samples and had them analyzed. I remember attending a game where the fans got to meet and chat with players on the field at Veterans Stadium. It was pretty cool, but looking back, I can remember that we were all surrounded by a vast sea of artificial turf.