Artificial turfgrass is manufactured out of plastic fibers made to look like grass blades with a polypropylene backing into which each blade is sewn into. This backing is designed to help keep the blades upright and prevent wrinkling. In 2019, it was discovered that these blades and backing contain per-and polyfluoroalkyl chemical substances (PFAS).
PFAS are included in a class of thousands of chemicals nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they are resistant to breaking down. Even disregarding the environmental concerns that this poses, peer-reviewed scientific studies show that exposure to low-levels of PFAS is directly linked to thyroid disease, increased cholesterol, increased risk of kidney, liver and testicular cancer, decreased vaccine response and immunotoxicity, and other health effects.
The warnings are severe enough that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued interim health advisories on PFAS, warning that there are no safe levels of this chemical that can be in our drinking water.
According to the Toxic Use Reductio Institute, “All PFAS pose some degree of bioaccumulation concern, especially in air-breathing organisms.” These chemicals can accumulate in plants, animals, as well as humans. Too much accumulation leads directly to ill health effects. So far, these documented health effects have included impacts on the endocrine system such as the liver and thyroid as mentioned earlier, metabolic and developmental effects, neurotoxicity, and more.
Researchers at the EPA and other organizations are working to help understand how to safely dispose of materials that contain PFAS. As a result of PFAS’s strong chemical bonds (they can last for thousands of years before breaking down), they are difficult to destroy. These agencies are conducting tests to determine the best way to destroy and dispose of them, weighing the potential downsides of incineration against landfilling, and more. This research includes attempting to understand how the PFAS at a contaminated site may be transferred into nearby water, soil and/or air.
Artificial turfgrass fields are heavily made up of PFAS toxic chemicals. Their presence exposes the ground they sit on, the water that is drained through them, and the animals and humans that walk on them. Now that we have conducted enough research to establish the dangerous threat that they pose to the environment, athletes, and anyone and everyone affected by their presence in our drinking water, it’s clear that that the next step is safe removal of these materials and reverting back to natural turfgrass grown from real grass seed in all areas where grass is required or desired.
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