Public Perceptions of Contentious Risk: The Case of Rubber Granulate in the Netherlands

Abstract

This paper reports on the perceptions of risk related to practicing sports on fields containing rubber granulate infill, and preferences for mitigation measures, among people with and without offspring exposed to rubber granulate. Two repeated surveys were conducted among members of the general population and parents of children aged under 18, in the middle of a dynamic public discussion about the potential health risks of exposure to rubber granulate. The first survey (N = 1033) was administered in December 2016 at a time characterized by considerable public uncertainty and contrasting opinions in the public risk debate. The second survey (N = 782) was conducted in January 2017 after the publication of a risk assessment report, which concluded that practicing sport on fields containing rubber granulate is safe. Multilevel analyses were performed to study changes in perceptions of risk and mitigation preferences in the time between the two surveys, the influence of being familiar with new information following the risk assessment report, and the differences in the perceptions of risk and mitigation preferences between groups with and without offspring exposed to rubber granulate. The results of this study show that, initially, a substantial proportion of the Dutch public perceived practicing sports on fields containing rubber granulate as a potential health threat to children. Over time, after publication of a new risk assessment study stating that practicing sports on fields containing rubber granulate is safe, perceived risk and preferences for mitigation of this risk decreased, especially among those who were familiar with the new information. Parents of children under the age of 18, in particular those with children who were exposed to rubber granulate, were more likely to perceive the risk as higher and to prefer a stricter mitigation policy. These insights may be important to inform public health communication strategies with respect to the timing and tailoring of risk messages to various groups.

The role of the media in the amplification of a contested health risk: Rubber granulate on sport fields

“…Our study illustrates how the media set, and kept, a health risk on the public agenda, which was previously unknown to the public and is, according to experts, a negligible health risk. Our results provide insights into how the content of newspaper articles about this health risk posed by practicing sports on fields with rubber granulate might have contributed to the amplified perceived risks among the public (de Vries et al., 2019 ). This was done by describing the risk mainly as uncertain, by explicitly presenting controversy between various authorities and experts, by putting emphasis on certain lay responses such as concerns and commotion, and by emphasizing the presence of hazardous substances, while providing insufficient contextualization about the actual threat to health.…”

“…Shortly before the publication of the RIVM report in December 2016, the risk posed by rubber granulate was generally perceived as a considerable health threat to children. The data from the follow‐up survey, conducted shortly after the publication of the RIVM report, indicated a consistent decline in the public's perceived risk posed by rubber granulate (de Vries et al., 2019 ).…”

“…To study to what extent newspaper articles provided contextualized information about the risk posed by rubber granulate, (technical) elements of risk were coded throughout the articles in line with previous work on perceptions of the risk posed by rubber granulate (described more elaborately in de Vries et al., 2019 ). These elements included all references to (hazardous) substances in rubber granulate, exposure to (substances in) rubber granulate, possible health effects due (to exposure to substances in) rubber granulate, and the probability of these health effects to occur.…”

“…Our earlier study on this topic (de Vries et al., 2019 ) showed that public perceptions of the risk posed by rubber granulate changed in a relatively short period. Shortly before the publication of the RIVM report in December 2016, the risk posed by rubber granulate was generally perceived as a considerable health threat to children.…”

Environmental Consequences of Rubber Crumb Application: Soil and Water Pollution

“…Namely, the used stabilizers, process oils, accelerators, activators, pigments, fillers, and flame retardants may pose a risk for human health according to recent knowledge [ 4 ]. Major concerns are related particularly to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals [ 5 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Moreover, the standards dealing with safety requirements for playgrounds and leisure times activities do not sufficiently reduce the risk associated with the use of these areas and only slightly reduce the concentration of pollutants, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are considered as carcinogenic or mutagenic [ 18 ].…”