What is ADA Compliant
ADA compliant-Has been certified by a testing facility for wheelchair accessibility. Some of our mulch manufactures have ADA compliant material, others do not. If you are seeking grant monies you may be required to have ADA certified mulch. If you do not need wheel chair accessibility any of our mulches will meet ASTM safety standards.
ADA Standards - Rubber mulch provides superior shock absorption well within the established ASTM criteria and the environment becomes ADA compliant when a handicap accessible walkway is installed between the handicap parking area and the equipment transfer station. This can be accomplished by installing a macadam path from the parking area to the playground perimeter, then installing an ADA compatible walkway to the playground transfer station or ramp. (Keep in mind that you must have a compliant walkway that wheel chairs can navigate through the mulch to the playground equipment. All of our mulch is playground compliant. As you can see ADA compliant mulch is just one component of being ADA compliant when reading the requirements. Wheel chairs do not have to navigate through the mulch itself according to the wording here. )
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We feel we can no longer sit back while certain groups send out false alarms regarding rubber mulch. There is much being said in the media lately regarding rubber mulch "possibly" being unsafe. There are words like "maybe", "possibly", "could", without one scrap of data to substantiate the suggestions. They are not offering any data to support this, just opinions based on no data. As a matter of FACT all the testing done on rubber mulch has been to the contrary. You will see some of that below. The EPA has issued its seal of approval on rubber mulch, Consumer Safety Council and so many state school districts across the nation that are too numerous to mention.
When you think about what they are suggesting, common sense will tell you that if rubber mulch were bad for children we could never even let them play in yards that butt up to streets where tires experience more wear and tear along our roads than any playground will ever experience. By their definition every roadside in America would be an EPA hazardous waste dump as well as the homes next to them. At Perfect Rubber Mulch we feel anyone buying any equipment for a play set should do their homework on the play set right for their children right down to the safety surface. Rubber mulch continues to be mandated among schools and daycares as being the safest surface available you can use in a playground for falls. |
What if a Child Swallows a Rubber Mulch Chip?
In 1994 the Maryland Environmental Services (MES) put this question to a series of tests. At the MES request, a testing laboratory subjected 3/4 inch pieces of rubber chips to hydrochloric acid (stomach acid). "Visual examination of insoluble residue appeared to indicate only fibrous reinforcing strands were dissolved by the hydrochloric acid. The tire rubber did not appear to be affected in any way; i.e. chalking, cracking, spauling, fracturing, etc." (PSI report No. 486-40013-001). What does this mean? If a piece of rubber is swallowed, it should not cause any acute or chronic problems. Short-term issues, such as an upset stomach will be a function of the amount of rubber swallowed. As to the fate of the rubber chips swallowed, they are eventually evacuated from the body, just like any other non-digestible material |
