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Public announcement on the formulation of new national standards for plastic running tracks: stricter limits on various harmful substances. The official website of the Standards Committee recently released a public announcement regarding the formulation of standards for sports fields with synthetic material surfaces in primary and secondary schools, and is seeking public feedback. The reporter noted that the “new national standards” announced this time set stricter limits on various harmful substances, and added provisions regarding runway design, construction, environmental protection, and inspection. This means that the issue of outdated standards for plastic running tracks, which has caused ongoing turmoil on campuses in recent years, is expected to be improved through institutional measures. Add steps for runway design, construction, and environmental impact assessment. It is understood that the current standard, \"Sports Equipment and Venues for Primary and Secondary Schools – Part 11: Synthetic Material Surfaces for Sports Venues,\" came into effect on October 1, 2005; quite a long time has passed since then, and it lacks provisions regarding relevant toxic and harmful substances. In the existing national standards, limits are set only for toxic substances in runways, including benzene, toluene, xylene, free toluene diisocyanate, lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, etc. In recent years, many schools have replaced the materials used in their sports fields with plastic running tracks as part of renovation projects. However, due to a lack of effective supervision, some unscrupulous vendors use toxic materials in order to maximize profits. The public notice shows that the \"old national standards\" lack provisions regarding relevant toxic and harmful substances, and some technical parameters need to be revised in light of advancements in existing testing methods. Not only that, but previous guidelines did not cover aspects such as the design, construction, environmental protection, and inspection of synthetic material surfaces used in sports fields. This revision aims to include such aspects as design, construction, environmental protection, and inspection, and it also seeks to establish technical requirements, quality standards, and testing methods for synthetic material surfaces in sports fields. It is reported that the deadline for submitting comments on the draft of the \"new national standard\" is November 22, 2016. Strict controls will be imposed on certain limit values for primary and secondary schools. According to the plan currently made public, the mandatory aspects of these revised standards involve two main areas: the limits on harmful substances in the finished products and raw materials used in synthetic material surfaces for sports fields, as well as the impact absorption value and tensile strength in terms of physical properties. The published plan shows that the harmful substances defined in the standards are based on the production and processing processes of synthetic material surface sports fields, and have been determined with regard to the potential harm to primary and secondary school students through three routes: inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact. The harmful substances in the finished products include soluble lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, etc., while the harmful substances that may be released include total volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, benzene, etc. The harmful substances in the raw materials include formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, etc., and the substances with specified limits in solid raw materials include soluble lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, etc. “The limit requirements for harmful substances are based on existing mandatory standards; considering that the users are minors, the limits for certain indicators are set more strictly. ”The relevant official explained. Since 2014, \"toxic running track\" incidents have occurred in schools in various places including Beijing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Changzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hebei, causing symptoms such as nosebleeds, allergies, dizziness, and nausea in some students. Just before the start of the school year in September this year, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission requested that the education commissions of various districts conduct another assessment of the plastic sports fields in the primary and secondary schools as well as kindergartens within their respective areas, taking into account local conditions, and that any potential hazards be addressed promptly. In accordance with the requirements set out in the Notice issued by the Municipal Education Commission regarding transitional measures after the removal of plastic sports surfaces in primary and secondary schools, as well as summer renovation work, the education commissions of various districts must carry out timely transitional repairs to the \"problematic playgrounds\" so as to ensure normal teaching, learning, and activities for teachers and students once school resumes. Further research and improvements will be carried out after the project is made public. It is understood that this revision plan takes into account some typical cases from recent years in China, draws on domestic and international standards as well as certain local standards, including environmental protection standards and air quality standards. Currently, the Education Equipment Research and Development Center of the Ministry of Education has assembled a team of experts, including authoritative industry professionals and representatives from certain enterprises. Following the announcement of this project, further testing, research, and collection of relevant materials and data will continue to take place in order to keep improving it. A relevant official from the Education Equipment Research and Development Center of the Ministry of Education said in a previous interview, “This is not a public announcement prior to its release; it is merely a proposal to consider whether this standard needs to be revised. Therefore, the content of the standard will continue to be improved in the future. What exists now is just a draft based on the research work carried out so far.” ”