E:60 Preview: Is Turf Safe?

— -- "This is the fifth goalkeeper I've hooked up this week," the nurse said.

The hairs on the neck of University of Washington associate head coach Amy Griffin stood on end. A chill went down the spine of the former U.S. women's national team goalkeeper.

It was an aha moment.

After that hospital visit, to see a friend (and fellow goalie) who was receiving chemotherapy treatments, Griffin started a list: a list of athletes with cancer. That was in 2009. Today the list has almost 200 names. Most are soccer players. About two-thirds are goalies.

But they all have one thing in common: They all play their sport on a synthetic turf comprised of tiny black rubber pellets, known as crumb rubber.

There are more than 12,000 of these fields across the United States. Some are in pro stadiums, but most are at schools or town parks. The black rubber pellets used to be tires, which contain several known carcinogens.

While the turf industry cites existing science and insists they are harmless, parents like Stephanie Beardemphl are not so sure. Her son Luke, a career goalie, died this year of lymphoma.

In Tuesday's E:60 investigation (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET), former U.S. national team star Julie Foudy examines the use of crumb rubber on synthetic turf fields by talking to those who make it, those who have studied it, including an exclusive interview with the head of the EPA, and the people who play on it every day -- all with one question in mind: Is turf safe?