Warning to Gym Owners:
For ultimate gymnast safety and protection, gym owners should buy new foam blocks for your pit if your pit foam blocks are from a time older than 2004, because of possible health concern problems to gymnasts from flame retardant exposure.
Warning to Gymnasts:
Gymnasts should wash their hands, arms and skin after exposure to old pit foam, especially after prolonged exposure like from fluffing the pit. Showers after practice should be a standard safety practice.
Gym owners should likely buy new foam more often than every 9 years.
Actual Heath Risks Still Unproven, But Safety First!
It is still not clear if there are any real, actual health risks to gymnasts from this type of exposure, but since some potential safety concerns do exist, there is absolutely no reason not to exercise all possible caution for our gymnasts. Safety is our #1 concern!
For Further Information, Read:
For more detailed information, gym owners should read this Environmental Health News web site article.
Other Pit Foam Solutions
This potential flame retardant exposure problem is also a very good reason to consider purchasing covered pit foam “rounders” which are pit foam blocks are covered in material. They are available from UCS and DGS. which is already a good deal because of how they keep down the dust and keep little gymnasts from picking the foam apart so it lasts longer.
