Artificial Turf: Why is this still a thing?

Houston Astrodome, circa 1968

Artificial turf is incredibly resilient, and I'm not referring to its springiness. I'm talking about its amazing ability to survive as a product despite all of its horrible qualities.

A Bit of History

Artificial turf's life began in 1965 when the Houston Astros needed to find a more palatable surface for the Astrodome.  Their original attempt, using a specialized type of natural grass, failed miserably because the dome's semi-transparent ceiling panels didn’t let in enough sunlight. Their second attempt,painting the ground green to make it look like a real baseball field, was a low-tech embarrassment. Their final attempt was to install ChemGrass, an artificial plastic product created by Monsanto. In a stroke of marketing genius, they rebranded it as AstroTurf and it was an instant success. Sports fields all over the United States began using it, indoor and out, giving fans a perpetually green field to look at and athletes a surface with a high degree of traction, even in inclement weather. 

Problems Arise

AstroTurf's popularity began to plummet as its drawbacks became clear. It was a harder and had less cushioning than natural grass, with very little "give". This led to a variety of back and spinal issues. Sliding on it generated a nasty case of "turf burn" on unprotected skin.

Its high degree of traction caused knee and ankle injuries. When installed outdoors, it became extremely hot on sunny days. 

Problems Continue

Modern-day artificial turf has ameliorated some of its original problems, but it is still unpopular with professional athletes.  In September of 2023, the NFL Players Association issued the following statement:

The surface temperature of artificial turf is still a problem . Per the New York State Department of Public Health:

"Synthetic turf fields absorb heat, resulting in surface temperatures that are much higher than the temperatures of the surrounding air. In June 2002 at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah, the average surface temperature on a synthetic turf field was reported to be 117°F while the average surface temperatures on natural turf and asphalt were 78°F and 110°F, respectively. A maximum surface temperature of 200°F on the BYU synthetic turf field was reported."

A turf specialist at the University of Missouri reported measuring an air temperature of 138°F at “head-level” height on the university’s synthetic turf field on a sunny 98°F day. The surface temperature of the field was reported to be 178°F."

The artificial turf on opening day at the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Edmonton, Canada was reportedly 120 degrees at kick off. FIFA, the world's governing body for soccer, now requires all World Cup matches to be played on natural grass.

The Environmental Cost

Beyond the harm it can inflict on those playing on it, artificial turf comes with a substantial environmental cost. Proponents of artificial turf attempt to ameliorate these costs by claiming that it doesn't require fertilizer or herbicides, doesn't need to be watered and doesn't need to be mowed by fossil-fueled lawnmowers. These arguments pale in comparison to the amount of environmental damage caused by the creation, use and maintenance of artificial turf.

It's Plastic!

The synthetic grass fibers in artificial turf are commonly made from polyethylene, the most widely produced plastic worldwide. Polyethylene, itself, is made from fossil fuels (usually petroleum) using an energy-intensive process that uses even more fossil fuels!  But once these grass fibers have been created, the environmental impact of artificial turf isn't over. In fact, it has only begun.

 

It Contains PFAS!

PFAS (short for "per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances") is a collection of man-made chemicals created in the 1940's. It's estimated that more than 10,000 chemicals are currently classified as PFAS. They have an incredibly strong carbon-fluoride bond, a feature used to make many household products resistant to heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. But this strong bond has a big downside. It cannot be broken down by any natural processes, which is why PFAS are called "forever chemicals".  Once a PFAS chemical enters your body it will remain there until you die, which might happen sooner than you'd like.

Two PFAS chemicals (called PFOA and PFOS) are  present in the vast majority of artificial turf. PFOA has been classified as a human carcinogen, while PFOS has been classified as a potential human carcinogen. Because of resource issues, very few of the over 10,000 PFAS chemicals have yet to be tested.

While some vendors claim to be producing PFAS-free turf, subsequent analysis has proven otherwise.  A few months ago, the Center for Environmental Health sent legal notices to Home Depot and Lowe’s demanding that they stop selling artificial turf known to contain high levels of PFAS or, at a minimum, to provide a warning label on their product:

“No one should be inadvertently exposed to toxic chemicals,” said Kizzy Charles-Guzman, CEO of the Center for Environmental Health. “Our lawns are places in our homes where we should be able to play and relax, safely. They should not be spaces where we worry about exposing ourselves to harm. Touching artificial turf lawns can expose us to PFAS chemicals when transferred from the turf to our hands and then our mouth.”

It Degenerates into Cancerous Micro and Nanoplastic 

If you're thinking, "Lucky me! I don't play or walk on artificial turf!", I have bad news for you. PFAS-laced polyethylene will not fully decompose for approximately 1,000 years. Instead, it will degenerate into microplastics and nanoplastics which will make their way into air, soil and water.  In 2022, the EPA reported that 97% of all Americans already have PFAS in their blood. PFAS has even been detected in fetuses.

And then there's this. In 2022, FieldTurf, a producer of artificial turf, stated that the life expectancy of artificial turf is approximately 8-10 years. After that, it should be replaced to ensure proper performance and safety. That means that plastic turf, created using an enormous amount of fossil fuel, will spend 1% of its life as a lawn or athletic field, and 99% of its life as landfill, leaching cancerous microplastic and nanoplastic into the environment.

 It Contributes to Global Warming 

Natural grass absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and emits oxygen. In contrast, artificial turf absorbs no carbon dioxide and emits two greenhouse gases, ethylene and methane. On warm, sunny days, artificial turf can reach a temperature of 200°F, contributing to the "heat island" effect. Per the University of Utah, "lawns and turfgrass act like a swamp cooler—water moves through the plant, evaporating from tiny holes in the leaves and cooling the air."

It Contributes to Stormwater Runoff

Rain falling on natural turf is either absorbed by the vegetation, returned to the environment by transpiration, or filtered through the soil into the underlying aquifer. Artificial turf is an impervious surface. Any rain falling on it will either run off or will be collected by an underground system to be piped elsewhere via the town's stormwater system.  None of the rainwater will reach the aquifer beneath the field.

 

 It Destroys the Underlying Biome

A biome is defined as a "large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat". In the case of an athletic field or a park, the biome is all of the ground beneath it. Covering this biome with a carpet of plastic effectively kills all of the insects and microbes below by preventing water from infiltrating into the soil, super heating the soil, leaching PFAS and other chemicals into the soil, and eliminating the exchange of gas and oxygen between the soil and the atmosphere. All this has a ripple effect that disrupts the entire food chain for all living things in the area.

 

 NJ Sierra Club Action Alert on Artificial Turf

Despite its overwhelming health and environmental dangers, artificial turf is still, inexplicably, a popular choice, even in a supposedly environmentally-progressive state like New Jersey.

In 2021, as his first term came to an end, the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters (LCV) labeled Governor Phil Murphy "America's Greenest Governor". In 2024, in the middle of his second term, the LCV no longer felt that way, downgrading Murphy's environmental score from an A to a B+. One reason for the downgrade was that he permitted millions of dollars to be diverted each year from the Clean Energy Fund to other non-environmental initiatives. A few months ago, the NJ Sierra Club began issuing Action Alerts to its  members with a similar refrain:

(click to view alert)

Sierra Club Action Alerts aren't unusual, but this one seemed bizarre, almost surreal, and begged a number of questions.  Why is a grassroots petition needed to inform the erstwhile "Greenest Governor" that artificial turf is bad for the environment?  Why is artificial turf being included in a project overseen by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, a department who's stated goal is to "help New Jersey protect its environment and promote the health of its citizens"? Finally, why is the Green Acres Fund being used for artificial turf? This is a fund that was intended to acquire open spaces and develop lands for recreation and conservation in order to "preserve and enhance New Jersey’s natural environment".

Initially, I thought that this was a joke or, at the very least, a case of the Sierra Club stretching the truth a bit, but it was neither. Per this announcement, Governor Murphy recently approved the use of almost 100 million dollars from the Green Acres fund for community recreation projects throughout the state. While providing assistance to local governments for parks and outdoor recreation facilities is a legitimate use of Green Acres money, 10% of that money will be used to:

• Create a multi-purpose synthetic turf field in Mount Holly;
• Replace existing grass fields with synthetic turf at Mercer County Park in West Windsor;
  
• Create a synthetic turf field at Tony Canale Park in Egg Harbor;
• Create a synthetic turf soccer field in Cape May Street Waterfront Park in Harrison ;
  
• Install synthetic turf at the playground in James J. Braddock Park in North Bergen.

Laying down acres of plastic grass is clearly not in accord with the Green Acres mission statement, excerpted below from their web site:

"To achieve, in partnership with others, a system of interconnected open spaces, whose protection will preserve and enhance New Jersey’s natural environment and its historic, scenic, and recreational resources for public use and enjoyment."

There is absolutely nothing "natural" about artificial turf. In 2021, when Princeton Township proposed the installation of artificial turf at one of their parks, the Princeton Environmental Commission produced this analysis which concluded that "no artificial turf be installed at Hilltop Park or any other park in Princeton." It's hard to disagree with such a forceful and succinct statement.