Is synthetic turf safe?

An initiative launched in 2016 by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to determine the true safety of artificial turf. This study was conducted to fill in the knowledge and data gaps and to provide a credible study to support the scientific research of recycled rubber and health risks.

While this study did not answer any questions, the scientific evidence still remains that synthetic turf is safe.

More than 50 independent and credible studies from groups such as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and statewide governmental agencies such as the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Department of Health and the California Environmental Protection Agency, have validated the safety of synthetic turf.

Studies have been dated back to the 1990s to determine whether artificial grass is truly safe. In 2017, a series of scientific findings and fact-based research came from more than 90 studies involving government reports and peer-reviewed academic analyses. Every study seems to focus on one usage for artificial grass. For example, the Washington Department of Health conducted a study on cancer linking to soccer fields. The results show that cancer among the players were less than those that could be seen on a random sampling. Another study on recycled rubber along by the Dutch RIVM and European Chemicals Agency showed that the potential risks associated with the rubber were “a very low level of concern,” respectively.

Other recent highlights in research through the years include:

• In July 2010, the Connecticut Department of Public Health announced that a new study of the risks to children and adults playing on synthetic turf fields containing crumb rubber infill shows “no elevated health risks.”
• In October 2010, the California Office of Environmental Assessment completed its multi-year study of air quality above crumb rubber infilled synthetic turf, and bacteria in the turf, and reported that there were no public health concerns.
• Independent tests conducted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Department of Health, released in May 2009, proved there were no significant health concerns at synthetic turf fields.
• The California EPA released a report dated July 2009 which indicated there is a negligible human health risk from inhaling the air above synthetic turf.
• In July 2008, a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission staff report approved the use of synthetic turf by children and people of all ages.

Popular, well-known athletic groups have contributed similar statements as the ones above. The chairman of the FIFA Medical Committee wrote, “A large number of studies have further confirmed that the effect of SBR rubber are as negligible as the effect of ingesting grilled foods or exposure to [tire] wear on roads in everyday life.” The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation conducted its own baseball players study and found that cancer risks were “at or below one in a million.”

The “black dots” are what anyone with concerns about the safety of artificial grass will be talking about. Black dots are the crumb rubber used in artificial turf and is what most studies focus their research on. Scientists are still unsure of the fact that crumb rubber turf can cause cancer, all they can give to the public now is whether it’s safe, so far the evidence says it is.

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