THE TOXIC GAME?
New fears over plastic football pitches after family link death of Lewis, 20, to rubber pellets
THE death of a young goalkeeper who battled cancer for four years has led to renewed calls for a ban on artificial football pitches.
Lewis Maguire, 20, who had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, passed away on Monday.
His father Nigel, a former NHS chief executive, believes that ingesting rubber pellets which are scattered throughout the pitches caused his cancer.
The pellets, used to improve the bounce of the ball, are made from old car tyres. Tests show they contain toxic chemicals including mercury, lead, benzene and arsenic.
Nigel believes his son’s illness was caused by swallowing the pellets and them getting into his bloodstream via cuts and grazes.
He said: “I’m asking reasonable questions that nobody has the answers to. And in the absence of those answers, we need to have more research and take more precautions.”
His concerns are backed up by Professor Andrew Watterson, from Stirling University, an expert in public and environmental health.
He said: “After decades of use, we still lack detailed knowledge about possible uptake of chemicals – some known carcinogens – from crumb rubber in 3G pitches.”
Lewis, of Middlesbrough, fell ill while on trial at Leeds United. He had a bone marrow transplant but died from complications after contracting C-diff.
His dad has called on the UK Government to order a moratorium on the building of the rubber-crumb pitches.
Watterson is concerned that the Health and Safety Executive have so far failed to carry out any checks on artificial surfaces.
He added: “When you could get large populations exposed to even small doses of what are known to be dangerous chemicals over a long period of time, that is a real concern.”
Former US World Cup-winning goalkeeper Amy Griffin found more than 150 cases of footballers developing cancer which she believes can be linked to playing on artificial surfaces.
The Dutch government have called on the EU to bring in new restrictions on some of the chemicals in crumb rubber on sports fields.