Sitting on the Sidelines? Know What’s Under Your Kid’s Toes

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Sitting on the Sidelines? Know What’s Under Your Kid’s Toes

Nicole Desperito

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

In case you’ve been avoiding the sports section of the newspaper for the past two weeks, here’s a brief recap of what you’ve been missing: soccer’s biggest event, the World Cup, is occurring full force down in South Africa. Though the actual sport is the obvious highlight of the tournament, there’s another contender vying for the public’s attention: the playing surface.

Popular in several European stadiums already, some of the newly built South African stadiums feature a hybrid field consisting of both natural and artificial grass. Players are quick to point to the turf as a contributing factor to some of the tournament’s more sloppy moments, but this is far from the most dangerous feature of the pitch. The real concern is the health and safety of these surfaces. While the World Cup stadiums may be thousands of miles away from your home, the same field maintenance practices are occurring at sports fields right around the corner.

Recently, there’s been a big push for the installation of artificial fields. Advocates point to the durability of such surfaces, since sports are typically unforgiving to natural grass. Furthermore, artificial turf eliminates the need for watering and mowing, reducing carbon footprints and making artificial turf an extremely attractive option. But what about the turf itself? Do the maintenance benefits really make synthetic grass the best option for children’s athletic fields?

Most artificial turfs are “infilled” fields, which consist of plastic blades of green “grass” with a base layer of rubber pellets. The plastic blades may be a red flag to some, but what’s more alarming are the pellets. These pellets are made of recycled tires and the Mount Sinai’s Children’s Environmental Health Center reports, recycled tires contain a mix of chemicals, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that feature known carcinogens and birth defect causing agents. Tests conducted by the New Jersey Department of Healthy and Senior Services have also found levels of lead present in artificial turf fields that may pose additional potential public health risks. Even more cause for concern is the amount of heat artificial turf fields can absorb: temperatures have been known to reach upwards of 150 °F. With all these hazards present, do we really want our children rolling around on these fields?

It’s important to note that natural grass fields also feature inherent dangers. Many of the chemicals used to keep that playing field green are actually poisons, particularly those used to eliminate weeds. According to NRDC, some of the most widely used herbicides (including 2,4-D) are toxic to humans at low doses, increasing risk of cancer, reproductive and developmental harm and neurological disorders. TWEET THIS Children are particularly susceptible due to their developing systems, faster metabolisms, and the direct contact they endure with the grass during play.

Additionally, of the 30 commonly used lawn pesticides (link to beyond pesticides), 19 are carcinogens, 13 are linked to birth defects, 21 have reproductive effects, 26 produce liver or kidney damage, 15 have neurotoxicity implication and 11 are endocrine disruptors.

What can you do?

To reduce your child’s exposure, after playing on fields have your child take off his shoes before entering the house and remove athletic clothes promptly for washing (separately from other loads of wash). Your child should also wash her hands immediately after playing.
Find out what your artificial turf is made of. Is there talk of installing an artificial turf field? Recommend safer options.
Encourage your local officials to take action on pesticide use by using Integrated Pest Management, an effective and much safer practice. If enough people actively take a stand, a national policy may one day be adopted.

Environmental hazards may always be there, but that doesn’t mean we have to sit on the sidelines and watch our children endure unnecessary chemical exposure.

Does your child play sports? Were you aware of this risk? What are your solutions?

Join us to tweet about safer summer fun in the grass on Thursday July 1 at 6PST/9EST. RSVP to win prizes!

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Posted by pletcherhqb on 02/24/2012 at 10:12 AM

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Posted by Nicole on 06/30/2010 at 10:46 AM

@ Rich—Thank you for your comments, perhaps I can clear up some of the confusion from my article.

Unfortunately, you’d be surprised how easy it is for those fields to reach the temperatures they do. Especially in hotter climates, the sun heats up the field rather rapidly, much like pavement on roads. While the test methodology may have intentionally heated the field, it does by no means indicate such situations cannot occur in real life. As a soccer player myself, I hate playing on turf fields for the exceptional heat they radiate. It really does get hot out there.

As for pesticide usage—I was not suggesting grounds managers use pesticides “just because”. I recognize that proper lawn maintenance dictates some sort of care plan. However, there are many non-toxic remedies for lawn care that are now making pesticide usage less of a necessity (and more cost friendly in the long run). At Healthy Child, we fundamentally believe it’s better to be safe than sorry. EPA restrictions are not necessarily as strict as they should be, and we try to ensure that parents have as much information as they can to make an informed decision.

Hope this clears up some misconceptions!

-Nicole

Posted by Rich on 06/30/2010 at 04:44 AM

Please, when writing a “factual” article do your research.

The test methodology used on the crumb rubber infill on artificial turf fields that showed harmful chemicals is suspect. The rubber was heated/burned and the smoke was tested for chemicals. This is an unlikely scenario during a game or practice.

As for pesticide use on turfgrass fields, economic reality forces grounds managers to use IPM. NO ONE has the budget to use chemicals ‘just because’. Combine that with the legal responsibility held by the licensed applicator and no one is going apply any product unnecessarily. The EPA and state Departments of Environmental Protection have very strict laws and penalties regulating the use of pesticides. Having been a licensed applicator for 20+ years, I have taken the time to be educated with the scientific facts, not the rhetoric of the mass media. The pesticides I used all had the EPA signal word “Caution” vs flouride toothpastes having the more toxic signal word “Warning”! Why not check and see what chemicals are being used and I believe you find that there are very few that pose actual health risks!

Posted by Shannon on 06/29/2010 at 08:49 AM

I used to play soccer on artificial turf. If you fall or slide on it, it gives terrible scrapes and burns on any exposed skin, which grass does not. So not only are players more injured by the turf, but I would imagine that the broken skin is a direct route for the chemicals to enter the body (as well as the eyes/nose/mouth when a player lands face-down on the turf).

I hated playing on artificial turf not only because of the injuries, but the ball also behaves differently than on grass, especially if it’s been raining and the turf is wet!

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