The Dangers of Loose-fill Playground Surfacing Products  

Loose-fill playground surfacing materials like wood chips, sand & rubber mulch, are unfortunately a common type of surfacing material used on playgrounds and cause most of the playground related injuries along with being a maintenance nightmare. When FallZone Safety Surfacing surveyed a group of customers about these dangerous loose-fill products like wood chips, sand & rubber mulch, they voiced many dangerous disadvantages about the surfacing products and are highly against using these products ever again. 

They said it gets in and on shoes, clothes, diaper bags, stroller pockets, socks, and hair etc, one day care onwer told us.  ”Children frequently pick up this bacteria ridden product and mouth it, chew it, pocket it, and throw it at each other” ”One child had to have a doctor remove a piece of wood mulch from a child’s ear that got lodged in that resulted in hearing issues”. ”Another child had a serious eye injury from rubber mulch being thrown at her”. Also because loose infill products move all the time and are unevenly distributed, children fall down much more frequently and are put at risk for major head injuries. It is difficult to push wheeled products like strollers and these loose fill products are not ADA compliant.

Children have difficulty running, playing tag, and jumping rope on loose-fill playgrounds. Hazards, such as broken glass, sharp rocks & animal feces where found hidden in the surfacing materials. A school in Florida had a ring worm out break because of all the bacteria found in there loose-fill sand that was being used as playground surfacing. When wood fiber was used, they reported children get splinters and are being poked by protruding sticks that can cause a trip the the ER. Wood mulch also gets muddy when it is wet outside and without proper drainage this product will mold also exposing children to dangerous bacteria. Rubber mulch presents the same issues as wood mulch does but worse, rubber mulch get very hot during the summer and releases horrible toxic smells, it also leaves black marks on children’s bodies(as seen in the picture), shoes and clothing. The surveyed participants also reported how insanely bad the fire ants & insects are with loose-fill products. One child had painful fire ants bites all over his legs that also caused a trip to the doctors office. 

When we asked why did you use these types of products on your playgrounds that presents all these issues & puts your children at risk? The overwhelming answer was  “Its the cheapest government approved playground surface material on the market”  We then asked the participants what would be there #1 alternative to these horrible products and they all said they preferred the FallZone Poured-in-Place materials the most, followed by FallZone Synthetic Grass and FallZone Bonded Rubber systems. When properly maintained, unitary FallZone Surfacing is stable, soft and very durable, so children are less likely to fall and when they do fall, the surface offers far better impact attenuation than loose infill products like wood chips & rubber mulch which most of the time are not ASTM 1292 compliant. They also said it is easier for children to play on unitary FallZone Safety Surfacing materials than on loose fill so it is much easier and safer for hop scotch, running, playing tag, using jump ropes, and playing with balls. Children do not get as dirty playing on unitary surfacing, and they are unable to pick up, eat, or throw the materials at each other. It is easier to see and avoid hazards on/within the surface. FallZone Safety Surfacing is much higher in quality and in general, they feel there is less to worry about & far less maintenance with FallZone Safety Surfacing materials than the alternatives. 

For More Information On the Proper Protective Playground Surfacing www.fallzonesafetysurfacing.com or 1-888-808-1587

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