Thermal camera reveals how dangerously hot playgrounds get
Even though most playground equipment is no longer metal, AccuWeather found dangerous conditions on a playground using a thermal camera.
People above a certain age may remember getting burned by a hot metal slide as a kid during a summer in the 1980s. Since then, for safety and economic reasons, bare metal has been replaced with plastic in most modern playgrounds, but plastic can still cause thermal burns.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that 30 thermal burn incidents were reported on playgrounds from 2001-2008, and only seven of them were associated with metal surfaces.
Using a FLIR thermal camera, AccuWeather tested a local playground and found temperatures as high as 164 degrees Fahrenheit on a plastic slide, on a late-July day in State College, Pennsylvania. This is far above the temperature threshold of 122 degrees for a third-degree burn.
FLIR, or Forward-Looking Infrared, cameras detect invisible infrared radiation emitted by objects. Unlike an infrared thermometer, which shows only the temperature of the spot it is pointed at, a FLIR camera shows the temperatures of all objects in view of it.
The air temperature was near 90 degrees during our test, but burns on playground equipment have been documented with air temperatures as low as 74 degrees.
Other temperatures that we measured at the playground included mulch at 157 degrees, bare wood at 150, a black rubber swing at 145, asphalt at 144 and concrete at 124 degrees.
Shade was key, cutting temperatures of most surfaces dramatically. The CPSC recommends avoiding uncoated metal at playgrounds, as well as darker plastic and rubber equipment in the sun, since darker colors absorb more of the sun's radiation. Asphalt and concrete can also get very hot and burn the feet of children or pets.
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