Artificial Turf Fields Pose Negligible Health Risks
The turfgrass industry wants you to think otherwise
If you look closely during a televised football game you might see tiny black pebbles being kicked up and even sticking to players - that would be the crumb rubber used with artificial turf. Crumb rubber is manufactured from recycled tires and contains “as expected,” according to the EPA, “a range of metals, semivolatile organic compounds, volatile organic compounds and bacteria.”
One benefit of artificial turf is that it takes tens of thousands of scrap tires to make the crumb rubber for just one football field - which saves those tires from the landfill. Temporarily. The average artificial turf field lasts only ten years before it has to go … to the landfill.
This world could use less plastic and more greenery, but is crumb rubber a health hazard? Multiple peer-reviewed studies say no. An extensive EPA study found that although chemicals are found in crumb rubber, exposures are “likely limited.” The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says that “no specific chemical hazards from recycled tires in playground surfacing are known by the CPSC at this time.” They do recommend some (obvious) precautions when in a crumb rubber situation including avoiding mouth contact with materials and avoiding drinking or eating beverages while on field or playground surfaces.
It seems that AstroTurf — invented by the Monsanto chemical corporation in 1965 — is everywhere and along with it crumb rubber. In a better world all these thousands of playfields and playgrounds would have natural turf. The natural turf industry would agree, which is why they operate several websites promoting their cause, including Safer Fields for All. Their claim about cancer is false: “As members of Washington state and local communities, we are encouraging the public to say NO to the installation of synthetic turf playing fields. Not only are synthetic turf playing fields an environmental injustice, but they also can be traced to detrimental health effects, including cancer.” Safer Fields for All is sponsored by the Washington Turfgrass Seed Commission, an industry group based in Kennewick, Washington. Safer Fields for All and associated websites do not list the names of any organization employees or officers.
Astroturfing is when a lobbying group or political organization creates messaging disguised as a “grass roots” effort from citizens. That kind of makes Safer Fields for All an anti-AstroTurf astroturfing operation.
—Alex R. Mayer
