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This.. it's commonly used for outdoor BB courts... How dangerous can it be?
What about it is supposed to be dangerous? Just falling on it? I played on it as a kid. My grandparent’s driveway was paved and I played on it all the time. By contrast, the alley behind our house was gravel and anytime I fell while playing there, I got gravel stuck in my legs or got cut by it.
Yup gravel is way more painful. Also it’s harder to bike,skate, blade, play any sports on really.
My generation we played on the asphalt driveways and out on the asphalt streets and well, you can see how we turned out.
Now I have a completely new theory....
I remember getting concussed on my parents’ asphalt driveway as a kid, falling off of my bike without a helmet. The doctor said the injury would have been more severe on concrete.
Doctors always be on some "One more inch over and you'd be dead" bull shit.
Worst you can get is a scrape, or maybe hemorrhoids if you play Pokemon Blue too long sitting on a cold pavement during the fall 🤷
What's dangerous?
I’ve been in commercial construction my entire professional life and have never heard of health hazards associated with asphalt. I wouldn’t eat it nor smoke it but I think all good to use as intended. We have put in lots and lots of hotel, retail and apartment building parking lots with no issues.
The pavers I used to speak to spoke about “stones” building up in their internal organs. Not that it was cancerous or anything. But standing beside/behind a paver all day breathing in those tar fumes can’t be great.
I’m sure that breathing it all day is not optimal!
If these people are talking about the fumes of freshly paved driveways then, yes, it could be dangerous for any human to breathe, I guess.
Otherwise it's a hard surface like any other hard surface. It'll hurt if you fall but who here never fell down on the street as a kid?
Asphalt is pretty nasty shit: https://www.nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0170.pdf
But conditions that increase risk of exposure include physical and mechanical processes (heating, pouring, spraying, spills and evaporation from large surface areas such as open containers), and "confined space" exposures (working inside vats, reactors, boilers, small rooms, etc.). So exposure concerns decrease after it dries or cures.
Don’t eat it or rub it in your eyes, I guess.
Your gravel is probably exposing people to silicates, so pick your poison.
Don’t eat it is a good general rule for kids.
That’s a rule my kids only want to follow at dinner.
I mean if the kid eats it then yeah it could be dangerous for their health however the same could be said about the dirt/gravel in your current driveway.
Sharp loose rocks or hard asphalt. 6 or half dozen.
It blows my mind that it’s even a concern.
I am an asphalt guy, it’s just as dangerous as concrete. So before you spend a ton of money on asphalt, let me tell you how expensive the matinees is vs concrete. The cost difference will pay for itself with in 2 servings of seal coating. Vs you just power washing concrete…Keep that in mind vs asphalt. The labor is more for concrete obviously, although every 3 years you will have to seal coat the drive way and seal all cracks. Especially if you live where it freezes. This will always be an upkeep.
Is this a serious question? Have you not lived in the world for the past, i dunno, 150 years? Never seen asphalt or walked on it before? This is a fucking idiotic question.
Don’t let your kids eat asphalt, check!
I keep my kids in a bubble suit while outside or they are locked in their padded room
People end up in groups on Facebook that spread pretty convincing bullshit for average people to consume and they just tell you everything is bad for you.
I feel like a little critical thinking should fix that.
Sometimes it’s hard to break the cycle. Let’s try and be supportive to help people reflect on what they may have been spending their entire life believing.
Don’t let them eat it. I know there’s been heath issues attributed to astroturf that has recycled rubber, also recycled rubber play ground materials. But millions of kids every day play on asphalt in nearly every cookie-cutter neighborhood.
What's dangerous?
Maybe it’s a little more slick than concrete when it’s wet? Other than that sounds kinda ridiculous tbh lol
Maybe it’s a little more slick than concrete when it’s wet? Other than that sounds kinda ridiculous tbh lol
Huh?
No.
The only thing I can think of is if you’re in a highly sunny/hot climate it can get very hot… that said, most stone/aggregate will get pretty hot when in direct sunlight long enough.
The most dangerous aspect is how hot it gets on a sunny day. Wear shoes!
It can be extremely hot in the summer compared to concrete. That’s about the only dangerous thing.
Just don't eat it or or huff it while it is being put down should be fine.. Just know it will get tacky if you live somewhere where it gets hot and direct sunlight for the first year or so.
road rash
Humans learn some great lessons from pain, how to walk on ice, what foods to avoid, and to not fall on a hard surface.
Gravel in the knee isn’t much fun. And there’s less stuff for them to throw if you have an asphalt driveway.
Everything’s dangerous to kids
I would recommend installing concrete- lasts longer and it might not be as hot in the summer
I wouldn't drink from a puddle on it or grind it up and eat it but there's nothing airborne or offgassing from finished and hardened pavement that is going to hurt kids.
Probably more likely to trip or slip on gravel than asphalt. Children have fallen on surfaces since the dawn of apes. They'll be fine. Do what minimizes actually falling.
The off-gassing of their clothes and home are more worrisome then asphaltousness.
As long as your kid doesn’t sit there for hours licking it, you’re fine.
Asphalt is perfectly safe when it isn’t boiling liquid and you’re breathing in those vapors. And clearly the road construction guys are fine working with it. It’s not like it’s asbestos.
Playing on the “black top” is what we did. It’s what all kids do.
I don’t like walking on it with bare feet because I don’t think it’s exactly the safest thing, but most people probably won’t think about this. We’re exposed to toxic chemicals all day, every day in this world. Probably not the best sub to ask this questions in. Try a health sub.
No
There are way more dangerous “haz-mat” concerns like eating processed food or drinking from plastic water bottles than playing on asphalt.
80’s Latchkey kid here. I’ve busted ass on every surface possible either on bmx or a board. Either way, with kneepads at best. Gravel fricking sucks donkey balls when you bust ass. All the cons of dirt with all the cons of pavement.
Not an asphalt expert, but have never heard of asphalt being dangerous for kids other than it being a hard surface.