Thanks for this report. I will read it. With your comment about "no one can seem to find where even eating them (in small amounts) is a problem," I beg to disagree. We haven't been able to find a problem, because "cancer risk" is what we are looking for. Cancer is rare occurring, and complex. However, how about others health risk? They used skin irritation for benign health conditions, but not everyone gets skin irritations. Just because the child may have low risk of cancer from exposure to used tires, that doesn't mean that there won't be any other health effects (such as neurotoxicity or effects to other health development such as to the reproductive organs). I don't know.... I guess ultimately it would be the consumer's and parents' decision. I tend to live by the precautionary principles. If there are other ways to "build" a playground in school for example, why not use the space for a garden (even if it's not an edible one), why putting rubber or asphalt?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao Tzu “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” - Winston Churchill ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ --- On Wed, 2/18/09, Phillip Williams <[email protected]> wrote: From: Phillip Williams <[email protected]> Subject: Rubber Tires as Raised Beds To: [email protected], [email protected], "'Mike McGrath'" <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 8:05 AM Thanks to Diana for the informative link to the EPA. Lots of really good stuff there… The following is an extensive review article on of the use of ground rubber. (Evaluation of Health Effects of Recycled Waste Tires in Playground and Track Products) http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Publications/default.asp?pubid=1206 I finally managed to wade through the 147 page report (including the results of the original studies) issued by the California Integrated Waste Management Board. Tires are definitely ugly, but no one can seem to find where even eating them (in small amounts) is a problem. I realize that a number of people on this list are very serious ideologues, but we all need to keep an open mind for nontraditional approaches to our ends. Thanks to all for a lively discussion and investigation of the facts. Best regards, Phil Augusta, GA From: Diana Liu [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 5:38 PM To: Phillip Williams; [email protected]; Mike McGrath Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Rubber Tires as Raised Beds Ok, I am not promoting this practice. I actually have serious problems with it. Anyway, I emailed my colleague who used to work at toxic epidemiology about this. I haven't gotten a response yet. So, I checked the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Well, I thought they protect the environment, so may be it's a place to look. So I queried "used tires and gardening". This shows up under Frequently Asked Questions about scrap tires. And there is a section on "10. What are some innovative ways tires can be recycled?" http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/tires/science.htm Imagine that. I hope that you can see the picture. This is actually under the section about benefits of recycling scrap tires. And under the picture, it says "Tire gardens can be a simple, cost-effective way to plant a garden in urban areas, and an environmentally-friendly way to turn a used tire into something productive again." I think it's some sort of lettus planted in there. Now, if the Environmental Protection Agency thinks it's ok... what does it mean? hmmmm. 15. What are the benefits of recycling scrap tires? Preferred management methods for municipal solid waste are waste prevention, followed by recycling, followed by incineration for energy recovery, and finally land disposal. For tires, retreading is a form of waste prevention and saves valuable resources. Recycling also conserves materials. For example, the use of ground rubber in products and in rubberized asphalt saves new resources from being used. In cases like these, recycling makes good economic sense. Tire gardens can be a simple, cost-effective way to plant a garden in urban areas, and an environmentally-friendly way to turn a used tire into something productive again. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao Tzu “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” - Winston Churchill ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ --- On Tue, 2/17/09, Mike McGrath <[email protected]> wrote: From: Mike McGrath <[email protected]> Subject: [Community_garden] Rubber Tires as Raised Beds To: "Phillip Williams" <[email protected]>, [email protected] Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 2:10 PMPS: if anyone is foolish enough (in my eyes) to do this, make sure the providers at least pay you the fee that they would have had to pay to dispose of them legally otherwise. (Here in PA, I believe its two bucks a tire.) Otherwise, you're being taken for TWO rides.... ---Mike McG----- Original Message ----- From: "Phillip Williams" <[email protected]>To: <[email protected]>Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 4:40 PMSubject: [Community_garden] Rubber Tires as Raised Beds > > > > > -----Original Message-----> From: Phillip Williams [mailto:[email protected]]> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 4:37 PM> To: '[email protected]'> Subject: RE: Community_garden Digest, Vol 666, Issue 1> > > > The following link has an authoritative and extensive discussion of the > use> of raised beds including the recycling of some types of old tires. (As > well> as other approaches. For what it's worth; there are literally hundredsof> missives on the internet proclaiming the value of this approach to small> raised beds. I spoke to my local Ag Extension Service Agent and he advised> that their studies showed no leaching of anything in anywhere near toxic> levels. If there's something wrong with using old tires there are alot of> us in real trouble...> > http://www.noble.org/Ag/Horticulture/RaisedBedGardening/introduction4.html> > Best regards> > Phil> > Augusta , GA> > > > > > I came across some used tires which I am going to use as raised beds to> > plant edibles in our community garden. Given tires contact with toxic> > materials, is there anything I should do before filling these beds with> > compost and planting, or is it safe to stack the tires, fill with> > planting material, and plant.> > > > Thanks,> > > > Anna> > -------------- next part --------------> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...> URL: > <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20090217/4ff12c5d/attachment.html>> _______________________________________________> The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of > ACGA's services to community gardeners. 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