We have received one or two questions from an individual about the impact of 3G pitches on the environment and also from a health perspective.
We feel it’s important to address these publicly and ahead of our full FAQs that we will be publishing during our official consultation period.
There are now over 2,000 3G pitches in the U.K. and several across the Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead and surrounding towns, including schools such as Dedworth Middle School, as well as neighbouring sporting clubs such as Slough Town FC, Ascot United FC, Burnham FC and Maidenhead Rugby Club.
We are working directly with the Football Foundation (FF). As such, our proposed pitch development will be FF accredited and they will oversee the installation, should we be successful with our application, and recycling once it needs replacing.
We attach a link to an important document that has been prepared as result of a collaboration between the The Football Foundation, the Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, The FA, Sport England, Sport Scotland, Sport Wales, The RFU, Rugby Football League, England Hockey, Grounds Management Association, and SAPCA.
These FAQs are provided for general information only and are based on information, research and material that is currently in the public domain.
In them, it is acknowledged there will be a phasing out of rubber crumb (one of the causes for concern) by 2030 and is investigating alternatives, but in the meantime have adopted important containment and safety measures as outlined in their FAQs, that our proposed pitch will abide by and adopt.
We also draw your attention in these FAQs to the European Chemical Agency’s (ECHA) study which assessed whether health concerns were justified and if restrictions on the use of ELT infill were required and concluded:
“The ECHA has found no reason to advise people against playing sports on synthetic turf containing recycled rubber granules as infill material”.
In 2020 the results of a major pan-European scientific study undertaken by internationally respected independent researchers, and published in the scientific journal Science of the Total Environment, concluded:
- No health concerns were found for AGPs with ELT-derived infill material.
- Cancer risks for exposure to PAHs were below 1 in 1 million.
- Risk characterisation ratios (RCRs) for non-carcinogenic substances were
below 1.
You can download this 3G FAQ document here.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to email us at comms@wefc.co.uk or in person at our consultation meeting.
