With the growing popularity of synthetic turf, questions have surfaced about the safety of the little black rubber pellets that protect our athletes. Several sources have also claimed that fields could contain a dangerous amount of lead. What is important to remember is that lead chromate is not lead carbonate, the lead formerly found in paint. This inorganic substance is used to color the synthetic turf fiber. In synthetic turf, the silica-coated, encapsulated pigment particles are used to improve performance characteristics and reduce toxicity. Bioavailability of lead from pigment is extremely low. It is almost completely insoluble, not an inhalation hazard and not readily absorbed by the body if ingested.

 

Hundreds of studies have been completed to understand any potential risks of artificial turf and its components. Government health ministries and environmental bodies in the U.S. and Europe have commissioned extensive research. So have world health organizations, leading universities and independent scientific committees. Elected officials have reacted to the concerns of their constituents by commissioning studies to get the facts. The research has been done. The studies exist.

 

Read what the experts have said in independent testing, studies and reports on

the potential health and environmental impact of artificial turf.

 

 

 

 

“In July 2008, a U.S. Product Safety Commission staff report concluded that synthetic turf fields are OK to install and play on for people of all ages. The evaluation of older and newer synthetic turf fields concluded that ‘young children are not at risk from exposure to lead in these fields.’ The report showed that newer fields had no lead or generally had the lowest lead levels. Although small amounts of lead were detected on the surface of some older fields, none of the tested fields released amounts of lead that would be harmful to children.”

 

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, July 2008, “CPSC Staff Finds Synthetic Turf

Fields OK to Install, OK to Play On”

 

 

 

“Testing on FieldTurf fields have consistently shown 10-20 ppms or less than 5% of the lead level regarded as problematic. No cases of elevated blood lead levels in children have been linked to artificial turf on athletic fields in New Jersey and elsewhere.”

 

Center for Disease Control (CDC), June 2008, “Potential Exposure to Lead in

Artificial Turf: Public Health Issues, Actions, and Recommendations”

 

 

 

“Based on existing HUD Guidelines and EPA standards, lead hazard risk assessments at these four DPR synthetic turf fields did not identify lead hazards.”

 

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, January 2008

 

 

 

“Lead chromate levels are well below that necessary to cause harm to children and athletes using the popular playing field surfaces. No acute health risks due to use of artificial turf fields, and risks due to chronic and repeated exposure are unlikely.”

 

New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS), April 2008

 

 

 

“A sample of stormwater was collected from the drainage system of two fields on April 28, 2008, and July 24, 2008, respectively. The results showed that lead was not detected in the drainage from either field.”

 

Milone & MacBroom, engineering, landscape architecture, and environmental science firm based in Connecticut, December 2008, ‘Evaluation of the Environmental Effects of Synthetic Turf Athletic Fields’

 

 

 

“Because the lead chromate is encapsulated in the fibers, it is presumed not to be bioavailable (is not released through contact) and cannot be absorbed by humans or other living systems. Research shows that contact with, or incidental ingestion of, the fibers or rubber infill poses no health risk.”

 

Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Committee (REAC) January-October 2009, ‘Assessment of Environmental, Health and Human Safety Concerns Related to the Synthetic Turf Surface at Maple Park in Ridgewood, NJ’

 

 

 

 “The lead levels that were discovered are isolated to the core samples of the turf, and did not appear in the samples of dust, wipes and blades of artificial grass taken from the field - in other words, the lead is encapsulated in the fibers inside the turf and not leaching out to the surface to be ingested.”

 

Patrick Guilmette – PMT Group; premier environmental and consulting engineering firm in NY, NJ, CT, PA

 

 

 

“If a green synthetic turf field containing lead chromate is still green, then the lead chromate is still in the yarn. If the Yellow Chromate had leached out, the field would likely be blue. Lead chromate is stable when encapsulated in the fiber into which it is extruded. Being encapsulated in the fiber, the lead in the lead chromate is not readily bio-available - meaning that even if the yarn breaks down, the lead in the complex compound which is lead chromate is not readily absorbed by the body.”

 

Dr. Davis Lee, Ph.D, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Executive in Residence at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Polymer, Textile, and Fiber Engineering, April 2008

 

 

 

“In interpreting the health risk from these results, it is important to recognize that people do not ingest the actual turf fibers. The NJ and EPA soil standards of 400 mg/kg are based on an assumption that small children may ingest

approximately 100 mg of soil per day through hand to mouth activity. Thus, comparing the concentration of lead in the turf fiber to an acceptable soil lead concentration is not an accurate way to evaluate the human health risk from

exposure to lead in turf fibers and is likely to overestimate risk, because the turf fiber is unlikely to be ingested (if at all) to the same extent as lead in soil. The best way to evaluate exposure to lead on synthetic turf fields is to evaluate the dust present on the surface of the field. When people play on the field, they may get dust onto their hands or other exposed skin, and transfer the dust into their mouth through normal hand to mouth activity. Thus, the primary route of exposure we are concerned with is ingestion of dust. Lead has no appreciable absorption through the skin, and the inhalation of dust from the field is expected to be minimal, as any dust is likely to adhere to the turf fiber or rubber crumb padding rather than becoming airborne.”

 

Toxicologist Dr. Barbara D. Beck, a lecturer in Toxicology at Harvard; Former Chief of Air Toxics Staff in Region I EPA; Fellow, Interdisciplinary Programs in Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, May 2008