California is spending $3 million to study whether artificial turf made of recycled tires is a health risk.
State officials hope the study will provide answers after mounting concerns of the so-called "crumb rubber" on artificial turf is linked to causing cancer.
Parent Heather Buckfire will not let her 11-year-old daughter play soccer on artificial turf. She is afraid the shredded tire material is causing cancer.
Buckfire drove from Sacramento to Berkeley late Monday to attend a study session with California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. The agency is conducting its third study on the material
"There are about 250 chemicals in crumb rubber artificial turf," said Sam Delson with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. "There is already three dozen studies to date that have not identified health risks, but troubling questions have been raised."
The state said there are many unanswered questions and it plans to focus on skins and digestive tract exposure.
The study is expected to take three years to complete.
