We had friends who used it in their entire back yard for their children's play area. I was shocked when I saw it. About 6 months after laying it down, they took soil tests with the extension office.
Within two months they packed up and moved, rather than have their kids playing in that muck.
Yesterday we collected tires in our neighborhood for recycling. I hate that people dump them, but the recyclers TURN THEM INTO RUBBER MULCH. Gulp. I had no idea. I won't be volunteering for that again until they switch outcome projects!
The rubber stones look like total crap.

I was thinking of trying a bag of it out on the pathway until I looked it up online and found this article: Deadly Rubber Mulch

Thanks, but I will pass on that rubber mulch!!
CMK

I think it's just hideous. I remember seeing an article in Fine Gardening saying similar things about zinc toxicity. Here's a link.

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Fine Gardening Rubber Mulch

I've seen them used for a few years now but I'm not at all interested in them --- so fake. however rubbers are often used in children's playgrounds, even in one owns home (see those giant rubber mats for kids). It's the recycled rubber tires that kinda surprised me (again a while back) because of it's potential health hazzards. It's not so much the zinc that worries me but it's cadmium which is far more serious than lead. (Zinc is actually part of the adhesive used in dentures - don't over use denture adhesives)

I have rubber mulch on a pathway at my house and I am so glad I purchased it and use it rather than shredded bark! No more yearly replenishment, its not near any plants so I am good. Just wanted to say something that was a little more positive about these products!

What's next? Rubber flowers?!

Clearly that's just an ad for Pinnacle, and it's utterly ridiculous. They don't even address the whole idea of safety, only falling on it, really! This is a horrible article!
Have you ever tried to push a wheelchair on rubber mulch? It is not easy, I tell you. It's pretty much equal to pushing it on mini-nuggets.

I knew it was hideous; I didn't know it was a health hazard. Thanks for the info everyone.

The smell was the first thing I thought of...yuck. And toxic to boot. Wow. What will they test on us next?

Nancy.

First of all, that was not an ad. I found these forums yesterday and all I saw were negative posts by people with no first-hand knowledge of a product I've used for a while, and did extensive research on before I bought. I decided to post in a few of those forums with a link the best page of safety information I found when I did some Google Searches on Rubber Mulch Safety. That page has info from REAL agencies like the EPA and IPEMA to counter the statements made by people that the product is unsafe.

I'm so sorry to have bothered you by posting scientifically-tested data and facts, instead of more conjecture and unfounded, ignorant fear-mongering. If it makes you feel any better, here is a link to the wikipedia page about Rubber Mulch, which also has the same information.

There is also a little bit of information about wheelchair access for you, girlgroupgirl, though I agree that pushing a wheelchair on any non-uniform surface is a pain.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rubber Mulch Wikipedia Entry

Sorry to make you feel unwelcome, mbentley, but this is a group of cottage gardeners, not playground designers, so many of us are generally a bit less than enthusiasic about putting things like rubber bits into our soil. We are not used to discussing the merits of asphalt paving either, for instance. I'm glad you are happy with the product.

By the way, the Wikipedia entry was written by a single individual who appears to me to be motivated entirely by ideology, not science. You can find out who wrote the page by clicking on the little tabs at the top. This is why Wikipedia references are generally avoided in research papers.

Renee

Thanks. I have never used the product for gardening purposes, only visual landscaping and playgrounds (not as a designer, just a guy chasing 3 kids around). I don't have a particularly green thumb, so I probably don't have much to offer in the realm of making things grow.

I just wanted to post some items that linked to some scientific studies and data about the concerns people mentioned of chemicals, leeching, etc., and I remembered reading about it along with the playground impact info and stuff on the site I posted. Regardless of the agendas of the people who wrote the Pinnacle and Wikipedia pages, links to the EPA's website are still convincing in my book, since they are a neutral government agency.

Do you really have that kind of blind faith in the EPA? And how is that you consider them a "neutral" government agency?

I have faith that they are not lying to us about the testing they've done and their conclusions about Rubber Mulch safety, yes. I certainly have more faith in them than a random forum poster who says "I dunno, it just seems wrong, tires are gross. I bet they have a lot of chemicals in them."

I consider them a neutral agency insofar as they are not affiliated with any specific Rubber Mulch company, and that they have no financial interest in whether Rubber Mulch is deemed safe or unsafe. That comment was made in response to a poster who noted that my first link about Rubber Mulch Safety was from a site that sells Rubber Mulch.

~from your link:

"As part of this evaluation, data were collected at a limited number of sites. The full study protocol was implemented at two synthetic turf fields and one playground. Additional samples were collected at four other synthetic turf fields and a second playground. Sampling sites were located in North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, and Maryland.

It is important to have accurate and reproducible methods for measuring environmental concentrations of the components of synthetic turf fields and playgrounds. The study protocols and the majority of the methods evaluated were found to be appropriate for characterizing concentrations of tire crumb components in the environment.

On average, the concentrations of components monitored in this study were below levels of concern; however, given the very limited nature of this study (i.e., limited number of components monitored, samples sites, and samples taken at each site) and the wide diversity of tire crumb material, it is not possible to extend the results beyond the four study sites or to reach any more comprehensive conclusions without the consideration of additional data.

In reviewing the literature, EPA believes there is no definitive study that fully addresses all of the questions regarding safety considerations associated with the use of synthetic turf and/or crumb rubber fields. As a further complication, characteristics and performance of synthetic grass blades may need to be considered separately from those of crumb rubber infill. However, both the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Centers for Disease Control recommend that young children wash their hands frequently after playing outside and always before they eat. EPA also recommends these practices. "

Sure doesn't sound like something I'd want my children playing on and it definitely isn't anything I would use in my garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: the EPA link in your link

You do realize that the last part that you bolded:

"However, both the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Centers for Disease Control recommend that young children wash their hands frequently after playing outside and always before they eat. EPA also recommends these practices."

is not specific to rubber mulch, but a baseline recommendation for kids to ALWAYS wash hands after playing outside and before they eat, regardless of where they have been and what they did.

I think you do make a valid point on the first one, though, that the testing was limited. The most important aspect of that statement, in my opinion, was the wide diversity of tire crumb material. Before I used any of this I did a lot of research about several brands and types of rubber mulch and found that some use dyes to color mulch, while others use a polyurethane bonding material that doesn't bleed. Searching for a safer coating is how I found the company I bought from, Pinnacle Rubber Mulch.

I also found out that their mulch was 99.99% lead-free, as opposed to 99.9%. At first I thought that was an inconsequential difference, but then my wife pointed out to me that over 1 ton of mulch (most playgrounds use 3-5 tons or more, I think), that .09% is about 2 pounds of metal. That seemed significant to me.

I realize this all sounds like a commercial for the company I bought from, but I am just defending my personal choice in purchasing and using this material. And while I agree that more testing would be better, the EPA still felt that what they did was enough to publish the results. It is certainly a matter of personal preference, but I still trust that quality materials bought from a reputable vendor meet the same safety standards as the areas tested in that EPA study.

not specific to rubber mulch, but a baseline recommendation for kids to ALWAYS wash hands after playing outside and before they eat, regardless of where they have been and what they did.

I think that's called covering your ass. Pitiful that that's the best the EPA can do.

Try you sales pitch over on Hot Topics. ;)

The Myth of Rubberized Landscapes

Source: Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D., Extension Horticulturist and Associate Professor,
Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Washington State University

Wow, why are you flaming me for posting about a subject that I happen to know about? I made a few posts in a couple of topics that all related to something I've recently researched and have experience with. I had a good experience with a specific company, and knew that they had posted links to external sources relating to safety issues people were already talking about, so I provided a link to those resources. I've participated in a discussion about the merits of the topic as a whole, and have not tried to sell anybody anything. I would love to post in more topics, and when I find more about things that I know enough about to make a viable contribution, I will do so.

I came to these forums from a post I found on google, and was surprised at the un-informed negative comments about Rubber Mulch. After I posted in that thread, I did a search here and found a few more, so I posted in those as well. Please go and read all of the posts I've made, and you will see the consistency that shows I am sharing safety information and my own personal experience. Isn't that what forums like this are for?

Attacking someone's credibility because they don't share your point of view is just sad.

And to address the content of your post, you have referenced 1 negative article, which incidentally includes ZERO references of its own to actual studies done on rubber mulch, while I have supplied (or linked to pages that supply) 5-10 real scientific studies that suggest the materials are safe.

Listen, the biggest issue to me, and most others I'm sure, is that you're putting something inorganic, that does not break down, on top of the soil, which will almost immediately start mixing into the soil.

The issue then, is that in 5-10 years, you eventually are left with rubber soil, or soil with a bunch of rubber pieces in it.

I personally don't care about the safety of it, almost nothing is safe these days so I've given up.

But to me, using rubber mulch is almost as bad as dumping tires in the garden. You wouldn't do that, so why would you use rubber mulch? Makes no sense. You're going to end up with soil with a bunch of rubber clumps in it and there won't be anyway to fix it, and it won't degrade for about 10,000 years.

That is the issue.

I can't see anyone using rubber mulch in the garden. Rubber gets extremely hot and the heat will radiate to the plants. Or your feet if you walk on the stepping stones barefoot. Ouch! lol

I thought playgrounds used pea gravel these days?

a friend said she found it on sale too, I tried to tell her its' rubber it's going to smell, boy you can smell her rubber yard about a 100 ft away when it's hot (she's in a retirement park) It lets a fume off of it like you're in a tire store. auhhh
and yes i do use tires around my young trees on my farm to keep the tractor mower from hitting them and they look quiet nice in my field.

I moved to a new house recently and they have this rubber mulch, which I call "Safety Turf", all under the front shrubs. Specifically yews and azaleas.

The realtor thought it had been put there for termite control. Really? The house is that easy for termites to eat? (it was built in 74.)

I agree with the person who says "nothing is safe, so I've given up", but what bothers me is it's a dead zone as far as a real ecosystem. May as well have rubber bushes in there too. At my old house I loved to listen to the crickets sing at night, and for sure there are no crickets here.

There are about 4 inches deep of safety turf, followed by gray weed-control sheets and dead, clay-ey soil. I wonder what would happen if I got a shovel and started removing that safety turf? Suppose I replaced it with some topsoil and real mulch? Should i leave the gray weed sheets? I spose I could leave a little of the safety turf around the trunks of the bushes where I can't reach, and maybe close to the house. Just to stop those termites, y'know.

Does anyone have experience removing this stuff? As far as disposal... I need a parking space at the front of the lawn, I'll use it for that.