Like a medicine show from the old west -- Hannan and Mauer would team up and present misleading disinformation for various public gatherings. The City Field Foundation's (CFF) styrene butadiene (SBR) synthetic turf projects were promoted as a tonic for everything from rodent control to preventing childhood obesity.
Replacing acres of fields of natural grass turf with SBR synthetic turf was sold as an enticement for drawing families to San Francisco.
Like slick admen, they produced PowerPoint presentations with photos of dead grass parks that Ginsburg had neglected and allowed to dry up. They promoted slogans about grass parks -- such as "el parquet donde te rompes pie" or "the park where you break your foot".
After simply replacing pre-existing grass fields with synthetic turf, CFF misrepresented themselves as increasing the number of play fields. Scientific and medical research about the health risks, (if addressed at all by CFF lobbyists), was flippantly dismissed as being inconclusive.
Calling their projects “wildly popular “and having “the support of the city”, CFF "Team" members were repeatedly caught fabricating information about the makeup of the SBR synthetic turf. Safety comparison studies were misrepresented in an attempt to make SBR synthetic turf appear safer than grass.
CFF’s lobbyists shaped the public's perception to the point where CFF's SBR projects were perceived as an almost magical panacea. The projects were promoted as a salvation for California's drought woes, as making a significant dent in billions of waste tires, and for one project -- as a suppressor of public sex acts.
Charts were repeatedly produced showing an exaggerated increase in playing time, which even Mauer eventually admitted that the numbers had been pumped up with duplicitous calculations.
Charts were repeatedly produced showing an exaggerated increase in playing time, which even Mauer eventually admitted that the numbers had been pumped up with duplicitous calculations.
Styrene butadiene (SBR) being spread on top of CFF's Crocker Amazon SBR synthetic field.
It seemed that whatever could be used to close the deal was fair game.
If you weren't buying any of their other pitches -- they would ultimately fall back on the argument that the fields could be easily replaced later with a non-toxic surface without consequence.
The consequence that was not addressed by this argument was how to undo the buildup in a child's body of accumulated sbr toxins.
If you weren't buying any of their other pitches -- they would ultimately fall back on the argument that the fields could be easily replaced later with a non-toxic surface without consequence.
The consequence that was not addressed by this argument was how to undo the buildup in a child's body of accumulated sbr toxins.
One claim that CFF didn’t try to make was that their SBR projects could cure the cancer that was being associated with exposure to SBR particles and their hydrocarbon chemical off-gas.
As early as 2008, Washington State had reported on a schoolboy who after years of exposure to sbr was fighting cancer.
Clusters of Hodgkin’s lymphoma associated with SBR exposure were showing up in the news -- especially in certain athletes who played positions where they were more prone than other players to inhale and ingest the SBR dust and its hundreds of chemical compounds.
A Huffington Post article posed the question, "How did we end up with children playing on fields that we know have carcinogens in them?"
As early as 2008, Washington State had reported on a schoolboy who after years of exposure to sbr was fighting cancer.
Clusters of Hodgkin’s lymphoma associated with SBR exposure were showing up in the news -- especially in certain athletes who played positions where they were more prone than other players to inhale and ingest the SBR dust and its hundreds of chemical compounds.
A Huffington Post article posed the question, "How did we end up with children playing on fields that we know have carcinogens in them?"
According to Buell, the demographic segment most likely to be using the SBR fields in San Francisco was the City's growing population of culturally diverse new citizens. “Trust me, Buell said, the sport of preference for immigrants is soccer”
Unfortunately, most studies of health disparities reveal that the same immigrants and minorities that Buell was referring to lack the critical services to help overcome the economic obstacles of obtaining cancer treatments and other medical services that could become necessary.
Recreation & Park Commissioner Gloria Bonilla admitted, “In the Latin community, soccer is wildly popular. I have many family members who have a lot to say about this subject, [SBR synthetic turf]. They deal with lead and asbestos and a lot of these elements that are harmful to people. They are very concerned that I would be voting to support a synthetic turf field.”
(Nevertheless, Bonilla has cast her vote to support every CFF project).