Appeared on BBC's The One Show Last Night

The show looked into the safety of 3G sports pitches which became popular back in 2006 but are now at the centre of a health debate. 3G pitches contain a black rubber crumb infill made from recycled car tyres which is thought could contain carcinogenic materials.

The UK government is under increasing pressure to halt the construction of 3G pitches, used by The Football Association (FA), until more research is carried out on the health effects of the chemicals contained in the rubber crumb. Late last year, the Ajax football academy in Holland said that their children would no longer be playing on the pitches and that they would be destroyed due to health concerns, fuelling the debate.

Following tests carried out for a client last year, ESG was approached by The One Show to carry out a suite of chemical analysis tests on rubber crumb samples from three pitches across the UK.

Last week, crew from The One Show visited the company’s Advanced Chemistry & Research laboratories in Bretby to film Paul Walker, senior development specialist, Energy & Waste Services, ESG. He was filmed talking through the results of the analysis and demonstrating some of the methods and equipment used to test the samples.

Paul has 19 years’ experience in analytical chemistry and is responsible for the development, implementation and improvement of new analytical methods.

The One Show airs at 7pm every weekday evening on BBC One. You can also catch-up on missed episodes via BBC iPlayer.