Article Archives

The names, synonymous with track and field greatness, unite to elevate American athletes to performances that perhaps only dreams can envision. Hayward Field. The University of Oregon. Eugene. And Tartan tracks.

Mercury, a potent neurotoxin capable of damaging the central nervous system of adults and impairing neurological development in fetuses and children has been used as a manufacturing catalyst in urethane-based running track surfaces since the 1970s, and most tracks built today continue to use mercury in their construction. But recently, influenced in part by rising litigation, stiffer federal regulations, and more clearly defined health risks from mercury exposure, colleges are becoming more socially conscious and having running tracks built without the use of mercury.

Mercury might be known as the fleet-footed messenger of the gods, but the substance mercury is an unwanted guest at running tracks around the country. As mercury continues to get squeezed-out from usage in U.S. manufacturing processes, running tracks are now "coming clean" of mercury with more and more universities specifying "mercury-free".

Manufacturers are now thinking about the entire life cycle of their products and finding ways to make them less harmful to you and the earth.

From Division One Hayward Fields to Division Three Susquehanna University, state-of-the-art track surfaces deliver top performances: Such as 18 records set in the first Middle Atlantic Conference track meet on Advanced Polymer Systems' Tartan surface.

University of Oregon's famed Hayward Field is but one college that has made the switch to a mercury-free running track. As mercury continues to get squeezed-out from usage in U.S. manufacturing processes, running tracks are now "coming clean" of mercury with more and more universities specifying "mercury-free".