Testing Playgrounds for Safety?

Children can be really messy, when it comes to playing in a natural playground. You cannot just build a play structure on a ground that is not tested for being safe for kids. Soil test helps you measure the amount of impurities in the soil that may be hazardous to children’s health.

Research shows that soil, sometimes contains heavy metals that pose a serious threat to children’s health. Children between the age group of 6 and younger can easily get sick due to soil ingestion. Soil ingestion has been known to lead to nervous system damage, learning problems and slow growth. In addition, children never care for what they put in their mouth, so the untested soil is the last thing that you would want on your playground. Soil should be tested for heavy metals, such as arsenic and lead.

A good time to test soil is at least 9-10 weeks before the construction begins. The government has specific standards for the maximum amount of lead and arsenic metals in the soil. Take at least two different samples from the soil from where the playground will be located. It takes time for the results to come back, so make sure that you properly allocate time for different tasks.