In several cities and arrondissements, notably in Outremont, Saint-Léonard and Lasalle, Montreal, as in Repentigny, and Saint-Sauveur, Prévost and Rosemère, in the Laurentians, tennis followers on clay has recently come up against pondilized grounds for reasons of “health and safety of the public and maintenance staff”. In question: the possible presence of asbestos.
In Montreal, where the omnium national banking of female tennis is currently taking place, the management of the IGA stadium has also ordered the temporary closure of its clay soil.
Our earth installations were not used for the practice of tennis during the tournament
also assures Tennis Canada in a declaration.
This closing notice is affixed to the fence that belts the clay terrain of Joyce Park, in the district of Outremont, in Montreal.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
It all started in Saint-Sauveur
It was the municipal authorities of Saint-Sauveur, in the Laurentians, which were the first to close their clay land on July 31, following analyzes revealing asbestos concentrations exceeding standards in the products used to maintain the land.
The presence of asbestos in the rock dust bags of the American company Har-Tru had been raised two or three years ago
by a municipal employee during a visit to agents of the health program of Cisss Des Laurentides, reports the director general of the city of Saint-Sauveur, Jean-Philippe Gadbois.
The city of Saint-Sauveur offers clay terrains which are particularly appreciated by tennis lovers for the quality of their surface.
Photo: City of Saint-Sauveur
The agents had then noted, by consulting the information registered on the bags, that the Har-Tru product displayed an asbestos concentration equal to or less than 0.1 %
which exceeded Quebec standards which require a concentration necessarily less than 0.1 %.
The information had remained in a report until the document reappeared recently as a result of staff movements
at the service of public works.
Our first reflex was to call the Cness Because the product is mainly manipulated by city employees. They told us: “Test it and you will have a clear heart”
says Mr. Gadbois.
Made by the American company Har-Tru, specializing in the surfaces of tennis courts, the green sand used for the maintenance of clay terrain comes from a crushed volcanic rock, the metabasalte, to which we add a small amount of gypsum. This rock, which gives its particular green color to clay surfaces, comes from the Blue Ridge mountains, in Virginia.
Unexpected results
After having been analyzed samples taken from clay pockets and on one of its tennis courts by an accredited laboratory, the city of Saint-Sauveur has received surprising results.
The result returned to at least 1 %, so 10 times on 0.1 %
explains Jean-Philippe Gadbois, who also points out that the sample taken from the field, he did not contain asbestos.
The clay tennis terrains of the Outremont district are closed preventively for an indefinite period.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
After sharing these results in public health, the City received the visit from environmental agents Canada. They claimed the immediate stop on the use of the product, in addition to entering the municipal stocks of clay, without however ordering the closure of the land.
Faced with such a situation, the municipal administration preferred to opt for caution by ordering the preventive closure of its clay land. Information, published by The press Last weekend, other cities to do the same.
The Director General of Tennis Quebec, Julie Vézina, explains that there is no question in the immediate question of closing all clay soil. For the moment, these are preventive initiatives taken by municipalities, she underlines. We are still waiting for a directive of [gouvernement] provincial to know if it would be necessary.
So far, public health has not expressed any opinions concerning any risks linked to clay land.
On the outskirts of the tennis courts, it was astonishment on Wednesday morning.
Frédéric Charbonneau (right) and his game partner, Léonard Giovenazzo.
Photo : Radio-Canada
We play two hours a day here […] It’s crazy! We teach the news that there is asbestos in the tennis courts. It may be cancer in ten years. It’s still special.
I would like to know if it’s harmful or not, not just for me, but also for children and members who play […] I haven’t had a directive yet
said Gérald Fatras, head of the maintenance of clay terrains in a private outdoor tennis club.
What about risks?
If these closures may seem exaggerated at first glance, you should know that the risk of contracting a mesothelioma – a form of lung cancer linked to the inhalation of asbestos fibers – is multiplied by ten during an exhibition, even light, to asbestos fibers, recalls Norman King, epidemiologist and scientific advisor for the association for the victims of Quebec asbestos.
However, there is no need to panic, he warns. The vast majority of exposed people are not sick. This is the good news. We must not panic.
In the general population, we are normally talking about a new case [de mésothéliome] by million people per year. If we say that the risk is ten times larger in someone slightly exposed, it still remains rare as a disease, it is a case per 100,000 people exposed.
The problem is that we do not know in advance which of these 100,000 people will be sick, so we do not have the choice to demand extremely rigorous means of prevention.
Without wanting to decide precisely on the risks involved by people who play or work on a clay tennis field, Mr. King recalls that he is always preferable toAvoid any situation that releases asbestos fibers in the air
.
