NCHR Letter to Brighton Central School District Officials About the Dangers of Artificial Turf

I was recently contacted by families in your school district who are concerned about your plan to install another artificial turf field and who asked our nonprofit national research center to share our scientific expertise on the topic. Brighton families are right to be concerned because there are well-established dangers of artificial turf fields, despite claims made by the companies who sell and install them.  For example, the NFL Players Association opposes artificial turf because players are more likely to experience limb injuries on it, some very serious (see https://nflpa.com/posts/only-natural-grass-can-level-the-nfls-playing-field ). Community fields are not maintained nearly as well as NFL fields, so they have even more risks. And keep in mind that professional football players wear a lot of protection compared to children playing soccer, baseball, or most other sports. Since children are still developing, children are more likely to get injured and are more vulnerable to the dangers of breathing in the microplastics and chemicals in artificial turf, compared to adults.  If you are not aware of the research showing that microplastics accumulate in the brain, heart, testicles, and liver, I’d be glad to send you copies of those studies as well as non-technical summaries of the research evidence.

I also want to make sure that you know that there are thousands of PFAS chemicals, many of which are harmful to humans, and all of which are considered “Forever chemicals” because they are not biodegradable. When a synthetic turf company or someone aligned with them says they tested for PFAS and there isn’t any, that means they have tested for just a few PFAS chemicals — often 5-10. They haven’t tested for the vast majority of PFAS chemicals, so their assurances are misleading.

Artificial turf is also extremely expensive, lasts between 5-10 years (depending on whether it is well-maintained, which these fields often aren’t — ask to see the instructions in the warranty), and since the old fields can’t be recycled (due to PFAS and other chemicals), the plastic grass, infill, etc end up in landfills, creating serious environmental problems.

I hope you will scrutinize the misleading claims of the companies that sell and install artificial turf, and would be glad to share additional information and scientific citations to support what I’ve said in this short email. I’ve given presentations and provided information on this topic to federal agencies as well as state and local legislators across the country.  Our Center has no financial interest in this issue and none of us receive funding to work on this topic, but in addition to being a scientist and policy expert, I am a mother and grandmother and I want to share the information that you need to make the decisions that are best for your children and your community.

Sincerely,