Is rubber mulch safe?
Rubber mulch is inert and has no odor. Every color we sell is tested to ASTM F1292 and IPEMA certified for playground use. Federal and state agencies have studied recycled rubber and published their reports, and we link to them here so you can read them yourself.
Delivered price includes freight to your state. Every color is IPEMA certified and tested to ASTM F1292. One to seven pallets check out here; we quote any quantity.
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One pallet covers about 300 square feet at 3″ deep.
Same price either way. Choose bags for a home delivery. A super sack comes off in one piece, so it needs a loading dock, or a forklift and a pallet jack waiting on site.
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The short answer
Rubber mulch is inert. It sits in the sun and the rain and stays as it is. It has no odor, so it works right next to a patio, a window, or a play area.
It does not rot. That is why the depth you spread stays close to the depth you keep, and depth is what cushions a fall.
Our mulch is tested to ASTM F1292, the impact standard for playground surfacing. It is IPEMA certified, which means an outside body reviewed the result and listed it in a public database. You can look that listing up yourself.
Public agencies have studied recycled rubber directly. Their reports are long, free, and open to anyone. We link to three of them below rather than summarize them for you, because a primary source beats a secondhand claim.
Federal and state agencies have published research on recycled rubber. Read the reports in full.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Tire Crumb Exposure Characterization Report, with CDC/ATSDR and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission“Part 1 and Part 2 reports underwent a letter external peer review by independent experts.”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Tire Crumb Exposure Characterization Report, with CDC/ATSDR and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
“Critical Height — The fall height below which a life-threatening head injury would not be expected to occur.”
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Public Playground Safety Handbook (Publication 325)
How rubber mulch is made
Knowing how it is made answers a lot of questions on its own. The process is short.
- Shredding. Recycled tire rubber is cut down to mulch-size pieces.
- Steel. Magnets draw the steel out of the stream.
- Fabric. Air classification lifts the fabric away.
- Screening. The pieces are graded so the mulch spreads and settles evenly.
- Color. Five colors are painted. One is left as it comes.
What comes out is rubber. It is inert, which means it stays chemically stable in soil and sun. It has no odor. It does not rot, so it does not feed the cycle that turns a wood bed into soil.
We make rubber mulch in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. We deliver to the rest of the lower 48 from those plants.
Where to read the research yourself
Search this topic and you will find strong opinions on both sides, most of them written by people selling something. We would rather hand you the source documents.
Below are three published reports from public agencies. Each one is free to read. Each one names its methods, its data, and its authors. None of them is ours, and none of them was written for us.
We do not paraphrase their conclusions on this page. A summary written by a supplier is worth less than the report itself, and you deserve the real thing. Open them, read the parts that matter to you, and decide for yourself.
Buying for a school, a park, or a childcare center? Print the ones your board asks about. File them with your project records.
The federal research on tire crumb rubber
Three federal bodies worked together on a study of tire crumb rubber. It looks at what the material contains and how people come into contact with it. The findings run to two volumes.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Tire Crumb Exposure Characterization Report, with CDC/ATSDR and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety CommissionThe Washington State investigation
Washington State’s health department investigated reported cancer among soccer players in the state. The department published the investigation in full, including how it counted cases and what it compared them against.
Washington State Department of Health, Investigation of Reported Cancer among Soccer Players in Washington State (DOH 210-091)The California review of synthetic turf
California’s environmental health office reviewed synthetic turf, a surface built with recycled rubber, and published a final report on it. The state’s own review is a useful read for anyone weighing a recycled rubber surface.
California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, final report on synthetic turfWhat the certification actually proves
ASTM F1292 is the impact standard for playground surfacing. A lab drops a test head onto the surface and measures how much of the impact the surface takes out. The result is tied to a tested depth.
IPEMA certification adds an outside check. An independent body reviews the test results and lists what passes in a database that anyone can search.
That matters because it turns a sales claim into something you can verify in a browser. Search the database, find the listing, and read it. Bring the page to your inspector, your parks board, or your insurance carrier.
Ask the same of any supplier you talk to, including us. A listing you can pull up yourself is worth more than a line in a brochure.
Tested to ASTM F1292 · confirm any certification in the IPEMA public certification database.Depth is the safety feature
A test result belongs to a depth. That is the part people miss when they compare surfaces.
The lab measures a material at a set depth, and the number it reports is tied to that depth. Spread the same mulch thinner and you no longer have the surface that was tested.
So the safety of a play area is something you maintain, not something you buy once. Two habits cover it.
- Measure in several places. Push a marked stick into the surface under the swings, at the foot of each slide, and along the edges.
- Top up what moved. Rubber mulch shifts out of the busiest spots. Rake it back and add more when it thins.
Rubber mulch helps here because it does not pack down the way wood chips do. Press it and it springs back, so the depth you measure is the depth that is working.
What to tell a board or a parent
People who ask about a play surface want three things: what it is, who checked it, and how you keep it right.
Keep the answer short. The surface is rubber mulch, tested to ASTM F1292 and IPEMA certified. The certification is listed in a public database that anyone can search. The depth is measured on a schedule and topped up when it moves.
Then hand over the reading. The agency reports linked above are public, and pointing to them beats arguing about them.
Handling it on your own site
Rubber mulch is straightforward to work with. A few habits make the job cleaner.
- Wear gloves while you spread it, the same as with any bulk material.
- Wash hands after a session in the yard, which is good practice with soil too.
- Keep the depth even. Rake the thin spots back after heavy use.
- Keep it in its area. Edging holds the mulch where you put it.
Rubber mulch migrates out of the spots that get the hardest use, such as a gate, a path, or the ground under a swing. Rake it back and top it up. That is the whole maintenance routine.
Questions worth asking any supplier
- Is the product tested to ASTM F1292, and at what depth?
- Is it IPEMA certified, and where is the listing?
- How is the steel taken out, and how is the fabric taken out?
- How many cubic feet does a pallet hold, in bags and in a super sack?
- Is the price a delivered price, with the freight in it?
Ours answers as follows. Every color is tested to ASTM F1292 and IPEMA certified. Magnets draw out the steel and air classification lifts the fabric. A pallet holds 75 cubic feet either way, as fifty bags of 1.5 cubic feet or as one super sack. The price you see includes curbside delivery in the lower 48.
Ask us anything else at the Softscape Outdoor contact page.
Get your delivered price
Pick your color and your state and the site shows the price you actually pay. Freight to your state is already in it, and no shipping charge is added later. An online order carries up to seven pallets in total. For more than that, ask us for a quote at any size.
What comes with it
Every color is tested to ASTM F1292, the standard for how far a surface cushions a fall, and certified by IPEMA. The certificate itself is public, listed in IPEMA’s public database. Painted colors carry our 12-year color guarantee.
- Tested to ASTM F1292
- IPEMA certified
- Ships to all 48 contiguous states
- 22 years in outdoor surfacing