These conclusions were reached by chemical experts, material experts, application experts, technical experts, and construction experts, providing effective management control methods for the environmental safety of school sports fields.
At a national initiative meeting on environmental standards for sports flooring hosted by BASF, a German chemical company, and DBC Group, an environmental company in Shanghai, experts collectively called for strict management of the environmental safety of school sports fields to prevent the addition of harmful substances. Schools are places that nurture the future of our country and are crucial to students' health. There is no reason for toxic and pungent-smelling materials to be used on school sports field running tracks.
BASF, a German chemical company, and DBC Group have jointly launched an overall solution for environmentally friendly and durable sports flooring, ensuring that the tracks, sports fields, and gymnasium floors laid by contractors meet strict International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) certification standards. Additionally, BASF and DBC have introduced a quality control service system, which will maintain user interests by ensuring that materials from BASF are absolutely environmentally friendly, safe, and durable, and by integrating unified construction norms for contractors and subcontractors to ensure the highest standards in sports flooring construction and installation.
The controversy over toxic school running tracks last year was due to the use of polyurethane-based materials in conventional running tracks. Toxic tracks added large amounts of low-cost toxic solvents, such as chlorinated paraffin, MOCA, catalysts, benzene, toluene, and xylene, to reduce costs, generating a large number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that caused pungent odors, leading to students experiencing poisoning symptoms during exercise.
Administrators of schools and other institutions: As the summer renovation period for school running tracks approaches, we must first recognize the essence of the problem, listen to the public opinions of experts, and then manage and control it in a reasonable and effective manner. We cannot risk using immature so-called environmentally friendly products at the expense of practicality.
Experts believe that polyurethane-based materials have been used for over half a century in developed countries like Europe and America. Polyurethane MDI systems are not only environmentally safe, elastic, strong in adhesion, wear-resistant, acid- and alkali-resistant, and anti-aging but also have all-weather properties, dust-proofing, antibacterial, seamless, easy to clean and maintain, and vibrant colors, making them the best all-weather indoor and outdoor sports flooring materials internationally recognized for their ability to beautify the environment and enhance interest in sports participation.
Polyurethane running tracks have good flatness, high compressive strength, appropriate hardness and elasticity, and long-term stable physical properties, which are beneficial for athletes' performance, effectively improving athletic performance and reducing injury rates.
Sampling and Testing Procedures for Sports Flooring Polyurethane Rubber Coating
I. Pre-event, during-event, and post-event sampling inspections to ensure compliance with environmental standards during the material usage phase.
1. Verify that testing agencies and materials meet standard requirements;
2. Conduct random material sampling at the construction site before commencement to confirm consistency with the manufacturer's test reports;
3. Post-completion inspections according to predetermined schedules. For example, for a polyurethane rubber track, after 14 days of drying, testing by the client or an authoritative testing agency on-site cutting samples to check chemical and physical properties for compliance.
II. Rubber Granules Used: Primarily Must Meet Environmental Standards, No Recycled Materials, No Odorous Particles, and EPDM Colored Granules Should Contain at Least 25% Rubber Content Under Environmental Considerations.
III. Five Types of International Standardized Polyurethane Rubber Tracks Are as Follows:
① Breathable Polyurethane Rubber Track
② Composite Polyurethane Rubber Track
③ Mixed Polyurethane Rubber Track
Full Plastic Rubber Track
Protective Rubber Track
Four, Key Indicators for Environmental Standards in Rubber Tracks and Their Corresponding Requirements for Adhesives and Surface Layers
① Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) content per liter ≤ 5g (equivalent to a VOC content of no more than 5 g per kilogram)
② No chlorinated paraffins
③ No benzene, toluene, or xylene
④ No MOCA (N-Methylolacrylamide)
The source describes pure MDI as a durable, environmentally positioned raw material for polyurethane systems; this statement requires contemporary product-specific evidence.
⑥ No toxic or odorous solvents
Five, Rubber Tracks Must Be Both Environmentally Friendly and Durable with a Service Life of More Than 8 Years
All data must fully meet the 'Environmental Sports Flooring Standards'. Testing results must be issued by authoritative Chinese institutions such as Shanghai JKY, China National Building Research Corporation, Shanghai Chemical Industry Association, and East China University of Science and Technology.
The establishment of environmental standards for sports flooring will take time. The data requirements outlined above were compiled after half a year of expert analysis following the 'Toxic Track' incident. This data aggregates the consensus reached by domestic and international experts on the initial requirements for sports flooring standards.
Why establish environmental standards for sports flooring?
Chinese schools, sports venues, and public walking tracks are nurturing our future and hope. Children's immune systems differ from adults, and the health of athletes requires environmental protection. The promotion of fitness for all also needs a safe and environmentally friendly environment. As producers, builders, and consumers, we have a responsibility to contribute to this effort. We must eliminate unnecessary additives and banish toxic tracks.
Following the release of the State Council's 'Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption' in October 2014, local governments responded by formulating their own sports industry development guidelines. As of now, 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have issued such guidelines, each with its own set of tasks.
By October 2015, the total scale of the sports industry in these 30 provincial governments had surpassed 7 trillion yuan, surpassing the 5 trillion yuan target set by Document No. 46. Below are the main tasks and goals set by local governments for the development of the sports industry.
The State Council has set a goal of 2 square meters per person for sports flooring in China by 2025, with Shanghai aiming to become a global sports city with an average of 2.6 square meters per person. These targets reflect China's comprehensive launch of environmental requirements for sports flooring.
