Effect of Crumb Rubber Made From Recycled Tires on Air Quality in an Indoor Riding Arena: A Pilot Study

• This study was designed to investigate whether recycled crumb rubber would be an effective alternative flooring medium as compared with an existing sand floor.
• Over time sand becomes polluted with manure and other materials and can make air quality for indoor arenas very poor.
• Our data demonstrate that recycled crumb rubber significantly reduces particulate matter in the air when compared with an existing sand floor.

Our hypothesis was that recycled crumb rubber can significantly decrease air particulate matter when applied on the top of existing arena sand, and the objective of our study was to test this hypothesis. Treatments were as follows: A (control—existing sand floor), B (recycled rubber 1.5″), and C (recycled rubber 3″). Air quality was measured using three DC1100 monitors (Dylos Corporation; Riverside, CA). Data collections occurred during advanced riding classes twice per week for 3 weeks using randomly assigned horses and riders. Data were analyzed as a three-way analysis of variance with fixed effects using a Tukey post hoc test with SAS (version 9.4; SAS Institute Inc) and significance established at P < .05. Application of the recycled rubber material significantly reduced air particulate matter in both treatments B and C for particles measured at 0.5 μm and 2.5 μm. We observed no significance associated with monitor or time. We observed no difference between treatments B and C. Recycled rubber material significantly reduced particulate matter in the air during an indoor riding class when applied over existing arena sand flooring.

Means of particulate matter measured during riding class for each treatment: This study was designed to investigate whether recycled crumb rubber would be an effective alternative flooring medium as compared with an existing sand floor. Over time sand becomes polluted with manure and other materials and can make air quality for indoor arenas very poor. Our data demonstrate that recycled crumb rubber significantly reduces particulate matter in the air when compared with an existing sand floor.Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (123 K)Download as PowerPoint slide