And then that got me thinking…

If my hypothesis about the artificial turf happens to be correct and repeated static electricity charging and discharging can cause increased cancers such as leukemia and lymphomas in athletes sliding on artificial turf, then what about those plastic slides and rubber turf in the playgrounds? It seems those should create a lot of static electrical charge (Voltage) also and also a lot of repeated electromagnetic insult to a child climbing up and sliding down them.  So I started looking around, which took me to this:

And if you use the same calculations I used in my research paper on artificial turf, you will easily see that if this slide were a toaster, then it would probably fail IEC 60065 , which states that consumer products cannot discharge more than 350 mJ @ 15 kV into a person. So just think of that child spending weeks at the playground and going down that slide hundreds of times and getting mildly shocked each time, charging up and discharging like a capacitor.

So I decided to look at this childhood cancer cluster:

Suspected Hudson Valley Cancer Cluster: Still No Answers
And I noticed this:

“the cases were all found within the same 4 mile radius near New Paltz Road in Highland”, so I took a look:

And I noticed a park with a playground that all little kids hang out at, so I took a closer look

And I saw one of those newfangled polyplasticsomethingorother slides and metal rails and bark on the ground.  So I took a closer look:

And now it made a lot of sense, at least to me… And if it were me, I would get one of them there electrostatic field meter gizmos and see how much voltage I was charging/discharging into my human capacitor child with each trip up/down that playset.  And if it were a real big number I might tie one of those big yellow warning tapes around that playset, or maybe a red one, or maybe blow it up, I’m really not sure yet…

Here are a few more kids getting shocked and exceeding IEC 60065.

IEC 60065 Edition 8.0 2014-06 Audio, video and similar electronic apparatus (Playground Slide??) – INTERNATIONAL STANDARD

9.1.1.2 Determination of HAZARDOUS LIVE parts

d) the energy of discharge exceeds 350 mJ for stored charges at voltages exceeding 15 kV d.c. page 54

“Static electricity occurs when a “positive” material sheds electrons by rubbing a “negative” material that attracts them. Good static-producing combinations include wool and PVC plastic, hair and rubber, and skin and polyester. Cotton, paper and steel are neutral.

The resulting charge on both objects can dissipate slowly in humid air, or cause a shock if it touches something that is grounded, such as a person, a car — or the metal pole that Morley had his daughters touch after each slide.

The type of clothes and length of the slide didn’t matter much. But humidity did. In the cold, dry air of winter, Morley’s daughters achieved charges of about 10,000 volts. Morley says that in the dry air of Tucson, Ariz., a colleague measured 20,000 volts after a slide. [20 kV]“

Electron Exchange to/from child/slide and child/earth and child/atmosphere causes more disease/illness in child

Just a thought I had that I wanted to share.