Amy's List

Back in 2009, Amy Griffin (University of Washington’s Women’s Soccer Coach and retired US Women's National Team goalkeeper) started to notice an unusual pattern of soccer goalkeepers being diagnosed with cancer. As the trend of cancer in turf athletes continues to grow, the numbers have become too big to ignore. For years, Amy has suspected that crumb rubber, the tiny black pellets that cushion turf fields and are sourced from used tires, may be contributing to the surge in cancer. 

Amy has done an incredible job compiling a list of diagnosed players that includes not only goalkeepers but soccer, football, lacrosse, field hockey and baseball players. Her efforts have paved the way for meaningful national conversation regarding the potential risk of crumb rubber turf fields. ESPN and NBC News have each published investigative reports about the potential danger:

ESPN - E60 The Turf War with Julie Foudy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91svvfuF7iY

How Safe Is the Artificial Turf Your Child Plays On?
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/how-safe-artificial-turf-your-child-plays-n220166

More recently, Amy’s connection intensified when a close friend's 13-year-old son and soccer goalkeeper was diagnosed with Stage 4 Nodular Lymphocycte-Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma, a rare blood cancer. After 5 years and 3 battles including a bone marrow transplant, Jack Bryant emerged cancer-free and his mom, Jean, joined Amy as an advocate against crumb rubber synthetic turf.  

Together, Amy and Jean hope to expand their efforts by proactively reaching out to communities and providing a platform for every turf athlete diagnosed with cancer to be included. The goal is to collect information about each turf athlete diagnosed to help shape health and safety regulations for crumb rubber and guide research into the safety of fields.  By providing aggregate data (not names) to agencies such as the Department of Health, EPA, CDC, Consumer Product Safety Commission, we hope further research and legislation can be drafted.  

Please be assured that names and contact information will NOT be shared!  Toxicologists, epidemiologists and environmental health experts are interested in diagnosis patterns and demographic areas of concern.  They rely on data sorted by age, gender, city, etc., the type we are collecting in this 5-minute survey.  Again, NO NAMES WILL BE SHARED.

We understand that everyone's journey with cancer is unique and very personal. We are asking for no more than data, and respect any degree of involvement including completion of this short survey.  Please email us with any questions or concerns, and understand that we are not a group or organization just volunteers so it may take a little time (and gentle reminders) for us to respond.  jean.bryant@me.com, amygriff65@gmail.com