May 05, 2025
Dear Councilmember Lewis George and the Committee on Facilities,
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I am Tess Robertson-Neel, and I am a D.C. resident and a health policy fellow at the National Center for Health Research, a DC-based non-profit research center dedicated to advancing programs and policies to improve the health of adults and children. We’ve had the privilege of testifying before the DC City Council before and appreciate the chance to share more information to protect the health of D.C. residents.
Thank you for the work that you are doing to learn more about the risks of environmental health hazards such as PFAS and lead. My goal today is to share our research information about the health threats posed by artificial turf and poured-in-place rubber playground surfaces. As a researcher who has studied PFAS and other endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals and recently reviewed research conducted on lead on local playgrounds, I share your goal of protecting children and adults from these harmful exposures.
PFAS and other chemicals used in artificial turf have been found to increase obesity, contribute to early puberty, and exacerbate asthma. The plastic grass itself can also harbor dangerous bacteria, increase serious injuries, and result in microplastics that get into our bodies through the air we breathe. In addition to “forever chemicals” like PFAS, artificial turf and PIP playground surfaces contain lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals. These chemicals and metals pose a risk to DC children and adults who play on artificial turf at school and in parks, but they do not stay put. They can leach into the air, soil, and water, in addition to entering children’s bodies through skin contact, inhalation, and ingestion.
Research shows that artificial turf and PIP heat up to dangerous temperatures. On a warm and sunny day, they can reach temperatures 60 to 80 degrees hotter than the surrounding air, posing serious risks of burns and heat-related illnesses, particularly for young children and athletes (see photo below).
As DC has learned the hard way, if these artificial turf fields are not properly maintained, they can become dangerously hard, and athletes or kids who fall on them are at a greater risk of injury. This has resulted in millions of dollars that DC has spent to replace unsafe fields.
In addition to harming children and adults, the waste created by artificial turf poses an environmental health threat to the entire community. Despite claims to the contrary, the plastic carpet and rubber materials can’t be recycled, and when they are replaced every 8 to 10 years, they end up in landfills, contaminate our water, and contribute to our growing plastic pollution crisis.
We also hope that you will consider the environmental health hazards caused by poured-in-place rubber playground surfaces. Under the top layer of “virgin rubber,” researchers have found a layer of recycled tire crumb that contains lead. They look nice and are soft when they are new, but the top layer wears down with kids’ play, revealing the black rubber tire waste (see examples below).
We worked with researchers at the Ecology Center in Michigan, who evaluated samples of rubber from PIP playgrounds in DC. They found that some pieces of the tire crumb had levels of lead hundreds of times higher than what is considered safe. Researchers from Georgetown also found lead and other heavy metals on D.C. playgrounds that could be dangerous. When notified of that lead dust, DC officials ordered the surfaces to be power-washed, but that just moved the dangerous dust to grass and groundwater.
In closing, I urge you to continue exploring and investing in healthier alternatives. Artificial turf comes at the cost of our children’s health, our city’s budget, and our environment’s future. Let’s make D.C. a leader in embracing solutions that protect our children and our communities.
Thank you again for your time and leadership on this issue.