VOC and Athletics Tracks. Health Comes First

When choosing sports flooring, the health of athletes and users should come first.
While opting for a sustainable or high-performance athletics track is certainly important for the environment and for sports growth, it is not enough.
Sport should be experienced in complete safety, at all times.
For this reason, it is essential to opt for sports surfaces and athletics tracks with low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) emissions.

Let's find out why.

Why should we evaluate the VOC emissions of an athletics track?

VOCs include a set of carbon-based chemicals, characterized by high volatility.

Exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds represents a health hazard, as it can lead to the onset of several issues, from eye and nasal irritation, to more serious kidney, liver and nervous system damage, in the case of prolonged exposure.

Therefore, evaluating the level of VOC emissions of an athletics track is imperative, especially in light of the following factors:

• Increased risk for athletes: Physical activity increases respiratory rate and consequently the risk of exposure
• Vulnerability of children: Children are more sensitive to poor air quality
• Indoor athletics tracks: Exposure to VOCs is undoubtedly greater in an indoor environment with limited ventilation, but it also affects outdoor surfaces, especially those with a poor quality.

Reducing VOCs throughout the athletics track’s life cycle. Mondo's commitment

The first requirement when choosing an athletics track with low VOC emissions is to check if it has obtained the Greenguard Gold mark, one of the strictest indoor air quality certifications.

However, by Mondo standards, this is still not enough.

We base our efforts on research, and actively strive to reduce VOC emissions on athletics tracks (and beyond) at every stage of their life cycle:

• Production: Using recycled or renewable materials for sustainable athletics tracks significantly reduces volatile compounds generated from virgin raw materials.
• Installation: Prefabricated athletics tracks reduce the amount of chemicals required for installation, i.e. adhesives and solvents in particular, which release high concentrations of volatile substances into the surrounding air.
• Aging: Heat, UV exposure or intensive use can lead to early wear and VOC release. The vulcanization process makes rubber surfaces sturdier and more durable than other synthetic materials.
• Disposal: The circular economy model adopted by Mondo led to the creation of sustainable athletics tracks, even at their end-of-life phase, thanks to their high recyclability and non-hazardous product classification, which allows landfill disposal without environmental risks or the release of volatile substances over time.

Mondotrack Ellipse Impulse: A Push Towards Sustainability

The iconic Paris 2024 Olympic track introduced several innovative solutions, both from a technical standpoint and in terms of sustainability.

Indeed, this is the first example of a sustainable athletics track that employs a mollusk shells mix, for their calcium carbonate content, an essential element in sports surface formulations.

This result was achieved by creating an eco-sustainable supply chain that recovers mussel farming waste.

Using a natural material to replace synthetic or mineral-based fillers significantly reduces the environmental impact and volatile compound generation throughout the entire sports flooring life cycle.

Our commitment to produce increasingly sustainable athletics tracks with lower VOC emissions goes on, and involves all of Mondo’s sports surfaces, including artificial turf.