Now not even baseball fields are safe from toxic forever chemicals
Forever cancer-related chemicals have been found on samples from a Philadelphia stadium that previously hosted the city’s MLB and NFL team.
Experts fear the toxins may have played a role in the brain cancer deaths of six former professional baseball players.
Four samples of the turf used at Veterans Stadium were obtained by local reporters and tested for toxins, and scientists found that the turf contained detectable levels of 16 PFAS “forever chemicals.”
The since-demolished stadium opened in 1971 and served as home to the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles from then until the early 2000s.
Long-term exposure to forever chemicals has been linked to multiple cancers, kidney problems, and more. Experts warn they’re on every kind of household item, from baby clothes to toilet paper.
David West (pictured) is a former Phillies pitcher who died of brain cancer last year at age 57. His was the sixth cancer death among players playing for the team while it played at Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium was home to the Philadelphia Phillies from 1971 to 2003. Recent analysis of the playing surface has forever shown the prevalence of toxic chemicals
The Phillies shared the stadium with the Philadelphia Eagles. No cases of brain cancer have been reported in football team alumni
Souvenirs from the stadium’s turf were tested and every sample tested positive for the toxic chemicals
The Philadelphia investigator began investigating after the death of David West, a former pitcher for the Phillies from 1993 to 1996.
He died of brain cancer in May 2022 at the age of 57, making him the sixth team alum to succumb to the disease in an 18-year span.
After his death, some called for an investigation into the field and other radar equipment used at Veterans Stadium.
Dr. Fox News Medical contributor Marc Siegel described it as a “cluster” last year.
The Inquirer purchased four field samples from eBay. The team handed out pieces of the field to fans as souvenirs after Veterans Stadium was decommissioned in 2001.
Samples were tested by scientists at Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories Environmental Testing in Central Pennsylvania and the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
The field samples in question were used from 1971 to 1981, but a similar field surface was used for the remainder of the stadium’s life.
Like many other products manufactured at the time, the synthetic chemicals were incorporated into the field’s composition to give it a smooth, non-stick surface.
The city invested 1.5 million in 1971 to build the turf and launched a new stadium to host Philadelphia’s iconic football and baseball teams.
Veterans Stadium used AstroTurf, the brand of artificial turf manufactured by agrochemical giant Monsanto.
Players at the time complained that the heat would cause the field to smell like it was melting.
Some even noted that during hot summer games they could smell toxic fumes billowing from the surface of the field.
A former Philly told the Inquirer that the surface of the field was so hot it would melt players’ cleats.
The team even put ice boxes in the team’s clubhouse so players could cool their cleats.
In addition to inhaling turn chemicals, players also got it all over their bodies as they dove and slide across the surface.
This may have contributed to the team’s abnormally high cancer rates.
About three in 100,000 Americans will develop glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer known to be aggressive when caused by a tumor in the brain or spine.
Just over six in 100,000 develop a brain tumour. This makes the six cases from just one team alone an anomaly.
However, there are currently no concrete links between the toxins in the field and cancer cases. But exposure to PFAS is linked to a host of health problems.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that exposure is linked to multiple cancers, liver damage, fertility problems, arthritis and thyroid disease, among other things.
Doubters may point to the Eagles, who also played on the same field at the same time and have experienced no brain cancer cases.
But if inhalation of the chemicals due to high heat is linked to the cancer, then Eagles players whose season runs into fall and winter — not spring and summer like Phillies players — would have had less exposure.
Darren Daulton (left), who was a Phillies catcher in 1983 and then from 1985 to 1997, was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2013. He died in 2017. John Vukovich (right), who had worked twice as a utility infielder in the 1970s, was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he returned to coach the team in the early 2000s. He would eventually die of the tumor in 2006.
Johnny Oates (left) and Tug McGraaw (right) both died of brain cancer in 2004
Former Phillies pitcher Ken Brett (pictured) died of brain cancer at age 55 in 2003
The Phillies players affected include Ken Brett, who played for them in 1973 and died of brain cancer in 2003 at age 55.
A year later, Tug McGraw—who pitched for the Phillies from 1975 to 1984 and is recognized as an all-time great player—and Johnny Oates, who played catcher for the team in 1975 and 1976, died at ages 59 and 58. , respectively.
Oates was diagnosed with glibostoma multiforme in 2001. He was expected to live only a year, but survived until 2004.
John Vukovich, who had worked as an infielder twice in the 1970s, was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he returned to coach the team in the early 2000s.
He would eventually die of the tumor in 2006.
Darren Daulton, who was a Phillies catcher in 1983 and then from 1985 to 1997, was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2013.
He announced in 2015 that he was cancer-free, but the disease returned in early 2017 and ultimately caused his death in August of that year.