Is Rubber Mulch Safe For Toddlers

Rubber mulch is commonly used for safety reasons in areas where children play.

Is rubber mulch safe for toddlers.

Some people might think it s all just a lot of fancy acronyms attached to a recycled rubber product but there are serious dangers involved with purchasing unsafe and untested rubber mulch usually sold by third party vendors. Three types of mulch are frequently recommended by experts for use in children s play areas. Rubber mulch is frequently used for safety purposes in areas where kids play. Rubber mulch didn t start out as a gardening product.

There is an important reason why rubber mulch is ipema certified it has passed new safety standards for playground loose rubber surfacing. Colored rubber mulch isn t made from colored tires. It provides a safe cushion from falls as high as 16. Federal and independent safety manuals hampton added all point to rubber mulch as a safe surface for playgrounds.

It is non toxic does not cause cancer and environmentally friendly. The idea is for children to bounce off it when falling hence making it a safer material to use than others. It found its niche as a bouncy soft surface for children s playgrounds. They are sand rubber mulch and wood mulch.

As rubber tire mulch is transformed from worn out filthy shreds of disposed scrap to candy colored nuggets the approximate size of wood mulch the patina of a safe product begins to take shape. Rather it s made from black tires that are shredded and then dyed. In 2011 our company removed rubber mulch from two local playgrounds at the owners request and at considerable expense replacing it with engineered wood fiber. The idea is that kids will bounce off of it when they fall down making it safer than other materials.

Colored rubber mulch can leave colors on kids clothes. You need to consider the safety of your kids before purchasing any kind of playground mulch especially when you have to choose between two options. Conclusively finding a playground mulch that is convenient and safe for your children is a difficult task. Yes research showed that if a kid fell onto rubber mulch from six feet up on a jungle gym he was less likely to be injured than if he fell on rocks concrete broken glass or sharp steel spikes.

Both rubber and wood mulch have their drawbacks. As the tire mulch is installed and kids joyfully play on it a narrative of recyclable success is easy to glean. All of them say the same thing said hampton. Over 60 studies conducted prove that rubber mulch is a safe surface for your child s playground.

If you put a layer of any of these 8 to 20 inches deep you provide a durable springy surface to cushion falls and absorb shocks.