play ground wood chips???????????????????

[jameswill]

have any of you ever noticed the mold under the wood chips at kids parks you have been to, i have and it cant be any better for them then pressure treated lumber they use for the jungle jims that they say cause cancer. i would only assume that the schools dont know whats under neath, could it be bad on a dry day for the kids when all those wood chips would be in the air all that dust sending the mold air borne any one else notice this digging in the wood chips??

[Carol K]

No, never heard of that. The playgrounds here in Connecticut they lay some kind of a huge thick plastic sheet and about 4 inches of wood chips on top of it. Most of the time the target in under this plastic or webbing, and you can hardly dig through it.

[Carol K]

This is a typical park at a beach. Even though there is sand, they still layer the plastic webbing and this has about 4inches of woodchips too. Someplaces 6 inches deep. All the equipment is plastic. The poles are metal covered in heavy plastic. Makes for some hard detecting.

[OZ_IL]

I've seen some mold on wood chips but have never read anything on it causing problems. I have only detected one park with woodchips and it had a cement layer about 4'' down. Kind of hard to dig through that :P

Let's hope this doesn't happen in the playgrounds around us:
http://www.welchproducts.com/NSSI/Testimonials/

[~Alan~]

Here in the UK, they tend to use rubber matting more than wood chips.
When I was young we just had tarmac or concrete, but in those days we didn't have parents waiting to sue the local authority when their child got a scratch

[Joe G]

Yeah, I've noticed the mold... Seems to me, everything nowadays causes a problem. Strange... it didn't when I was a kid

[hoser]

Yup, sure have. One of the township parks closes during the winter, so the wood chips are undisturbed for several months, and the mold has a real chance to "cook". Come spring, I have hunted this playground, and it is losded with white mold and mushrooms. I agree with you that this just can't be good for the kids playing in it. Ever heard of Hystoplasmosis(sp)? A nasty lung disorder that comes from mold. I think sand is the better choice.

[Treasurekidd]

I've seen that white mold too, especially in the spring when everythings been wet all winter. I can't say I know enough about it to know if it'll cause a problem, but I'm sure it's not a good thing.

[bearbqd]

You should try that white mold in soups. It's terrific!!

[FYI]

ever heard of ADD and ADHD? that's caused by earky contact with mold, among oher things.

[FelixtheCat]

Ever hear of a belt? That's what was used to treat ADD/ADHD when I was kid and I should know!

[roadrunner_426]

I've seen that mold...with chips, everything below the surface tends to stay wet...most tot lots around here that use chips have about a 2 inch layer of chips sitting over a mud slime...I'd rather dig in the grass anytime...the best thing of course are the lots that have that beach sand...spoil you for anything else...I'm with you on the ADHD, Felix...no such thing as "attention deficit" when I was in school..went by the name "acting up ", and the teachers had a sure fire instant cure made of wood . HH Roadrunner_426

[hoser]

HAHAHAHA RoadRunner. You mean the one that had the holes drilled in it to cut down on WIND RESISTANCE

[WThesing]

The one with the holes in it was about 5" x 24", belonged to the gym teacher. If we were caught fighting, he made us put on the boxing gloves for 5 rounds and NO protective gear. Everyone else got to watch.

[Firewhiz]

99 percent of the tot lots out here have those chips, and i've seen the mold you're talking about, just never really occurred to me how much mold it really in there. Icka Icka.

HH!

Bri-

[Cfmct]

Originally Posted by jameswill

have any of you ever noticed the mold under the wood chips at kids parks !you have been to, i have and it cant be any better for them then pressure treated lumber they use for the jungle jims that they say cause cancer. i would only assume that the schools dont know whats under neath, could it be bad on a dry day for the kids when all those wood chips would be in the air all that dust sending the mold air borne any one else notice this digging in the wood chips??

Its not bad... Its really the chips in stages of decomposition its a good thing

Don't worry your left ear won't fall off from it lol....

[roadrunner_426]

That's the one , Hoser ...made in shop class and wood-burned " The Board of Education ". HH Roadrunner_426

[rcasi44]

I don't like the woodchips here in NE Illinois. First they are always damp and they keep the chips deep(12" or more). When you try to retrieve anything it comes up in big clumps that stick together. And yes there is the mold. I like the sand and pea gravel lots. The woodchips in Texas were dry and easy to work with. Rob

[roadrunner_426]

I'm starting to really dislike hunting in wood chips...the ones in tot lots around here invaribly have glue-like mud under a couple inches of chips, and of course the coins are always in the mud layer...was at a lot today and at the end of one of the slides were so many targets that pinpointing in that goo was next to impossible, and even when it was dug up ,couldn't tell if the signal was from the coin in the chips or another coin under the dug up chips..sand has got to be cheaper and healthier...and infinitely better for MD'ing ! HH Roadrunner_426

[leakinbattries]

By all means...replace the chips with SAND ! Leakinbattries