The Safety of Artificial Turf Versus Grass
Since the advent of Astroturf in the 1960s, the popularity of artificial playing surfaces has ebbed and flowed. With recent improvements in technology and modern turfs that play more like regular grass, such as FieldTurf, installing artificial turfs has become a commonplace at universities, school districts, recreation centers and professional teams. More than 3,000 such surfaces exist today in North America; however, there is still much controversy on the safety of such surfaces, especially in regard to injury rates, overheating, toxicity of materials and increased risks of infection.
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Injury Rates
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Early artificial turf surfaces generates significantly higher injury rates than similar athletic competitions played on grass surfaces, with higher incidences of concussions, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and other knee tears, burns and "turf toe." Since the advent of infill systems such as FieldTurf at the turn of the 21st century, the injury rates between these turfs and grasses are more comparable. A five-year longitudinal study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2004 cited similarities in injury rates for both surfaces. However, they found that when grass fields are poorly maintained or overutilized (as they often can be at the high school level), they tend to exhibit higher injury rates than artificial turf.
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Overheating
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There is no question that artificial turfs have more issues with overheating than grass fields. In fact, artificial turf surface temperatures have been recorded as high as 199° F---on a day in which air temperatures were just 98° F, according to the University of Arkansas department of Turfgrass Science. In a separate study called "Synthetic Surface Heat Studies," which compared adjacent synthetic and natural grass fields at Brigham Young University, the surface temperature of the artificial turf averaged 117° F (with highs at 157° F) while the grass turf averaged 78° F (and a high of 89° F).
Toxicity
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One of the biggest hot button issues with artificial turf safety, however, is toxicity. In 2008, the state of New Jersey closed three artificial fields due to concerns over high levels of lead. In response, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission conducted an investigation and determined that the emitted levels of lead coming from artificial turfs were not unsafe for children or adults. However, researchers for the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology conducted a separate study and concluded that all turfs they examined had unsafe levels of known carcinogens, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), lead, chromium, arsenic and cadmium. Most agree that old turfs can be unsafe, however, the verdict is still out as to whether newer infill surfaces, which often utilize recycled crumb rubber, are an environmental hazard for the athletes that play on them.
Infections
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Artificial turfs have also generated safety concerns with regard to antibiotic-resistant staph infections, such as MRSA, occurring at higher rates on artificial turfs (both old Astroturf and newer infill systems) than grass. According to several studies conducted by the Texas Department of State Health Services, the rate of staph infections among high school football players in the state was 16 times higher than the average national rate. The infections were mainly a result of more skin abrasions on synthetic turf, and the fact that the turfs, unlike grass, can hold onto the bacteria. As a result, many turfs are now regularly treated with disinfectants to help reduce the rate of these infections.
Alternatives
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While some will argue that grass is always going to be safer than artificial turf, synthetics are likely here to stay because they require less maintenance, can handle higher levels of use and can survive indoor and in poor climates. Still, some school districts and recreation departments are taking steps to make their artificial turfs safer. The Los Angeles Unified School District and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation have both banned the use of crumb rubber as infill. Some of the other safer yet also more costly alternatives include sand, coconut and cork.
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- Photo Credit "Grassy Field" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: shaire productions (Sherrie Thai) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
