Safety concerns are being expressed that artificial sports surfaces, the same pitches at the Bermuda Football Association and BAA fields, may be causing cancer.

The part of the field causing concern is the minute pieces of black rubber that are found inbetween the artificial grass.

Called crumb rubber turf, the tiny bits of black rubber are actually ground up old car and truck tyres, and the associated carcinogens are believed to be causing cancer to athletes, particularly goalkeepers in football.

Concerns over the safety of the surfaces were raised again during an NBC Nightly News report last Friday when it was revealed that Washington lawmakers have asked the Environmental Protection Agency to weigh in on whether crumb rubber, which is used in artificial turf fields in thousands of schools, parks and stadiums, is safe for young athletes.

NBC News have done a series of stories on the safety concerns of the artificial pitches over the last year after reports that carcinogens are contained in the surfaces.

“These stories and others raise questions among athletes and parents that crumb rubber on artificial turf athletic fields may present a pathway to exposure to one or more carcinogens,” the House Committee on Energy and Commerce wrote in a letter to the EPA.

The bipartisan panel gave the agency until November 6 to answer ten questions about what tests have been done to determine whether turf made from recycled tyres poses a health risk, and what investigators have found.

“Are you aware of any studies about carcinogens present in field sports generally?” one question asks in the report. “Does data indicate that risk is greater for female athletes than for male athletes, for soccer players than for lacrosse, field hockey, or football players, and for one position in soccer more than for others?”

Amy Griffin, the University of Washington football coach, who keeps a list of athletes who played on crumb rubber turf and have been diagnosed with various forms of cancer, welcomed the intervention by Congress.

“They seem to be very well-intended questions that deserve the attention of the EPA and only scratch the surface of how the materials in the synthetic fields were deemed OK to play on in the first place,” she told NBC News.

John Doran, the president of local club BAA, admitted he had heard the concerns before, but was assured by the manufacturers that the surface, which his club had installed six years ago at a cost of roughly a $500,000, is safe. Goose Gosling Field is the Island’s most used football pitch, with clubs within the BFA and Corona League regularly playing and training on it.

“I did the research when I bought the product,” Doran said. “There is lots of stuff that you can find, and also lots of stuff that will counteract that as well. There were some articles about it, and people said some stuff as well, but it also went through all sorts of different tests.

“It is the exact same product that is up at the BFA field, obviously cleared by Fifa.

“That’s why we went with that product, it’s one of the products that Fifa guarantees. I have no doubt it is safe.”

David Sabir, the general secretary of the BFA, did not have immediate comment when contacted yesterday, saying he would seek “definitive feedback”.

“The BFA’s [surface] was in first, in fact I worked closely with David,” Doran said. “The same crew that put ours in was the same crew that put the BFA field in. You’re talking about a $500,000 [surface] installed.”

Crumb rubber turf is made from pulverised tyres — which can contain carcinogens — and green nylon blades of fake grass. No research has linked crumb or shredded rubber to cancer, and the turf industry says dozens of studies have shown the surface poses no health risk.

“The carpet fibres are manufactured in Georgia, the same factory that does field turf and AstroTurf,” Doran said. “The tyres are recycled and they go through all sorts of tests before they do it. The report is nothing new, they talked about it long before I was looking at what product to buy. A lot of places have it, and the crew that did ours they do it all around the Caribbean.”

While critics and supporters of crumb rubber turf do not agree on whether the surface poses a hazard, all sides want federal regulators to take a clear public position.

Dr Laura Green, an MIT-educated toxicologist and independent consultant who worked for the turf industry, said that the process used to manufacture tyres ensures that chemicals and carcinogens remain trapped inside.

“There’s zero reason to be concerned that playing on synthetic turf will put your child at risk for cancer,” she said. “It’s simply not true.”