The always green artificial turf raises some health concerns

A group of Peninsula parents have been trying to raise money for a new artificial turf field. The $1.4 mill plan to build a new turf impact thousands of students and residents who will use it.

Artificial turf not only look good year round, but also has a lower maintenance cost. Turf allows for year long play, without athletes having to worry about mud or damage on the field from other sports. Since turf does not have to be regrown, there will be no chemicals needed to grow or protect the grass, making it better for the environment.

“We spend money to reseed it and fix it during the summer and it looks good for about a month and then it’s really bad,” Principal Mitzi Cress said.

Many field athletes are looking forward to the turf field and believe it will be a good edition.

“We get so many injuries because there are patches and holes in the grass and there is an inconsistency in field so it can affect our  ball control for soccer,” soccer played Lindsey Britt said.

There may be a danger in this turf, however. When athletes fall on artificial turf, little black pellets shoot up into the air. The little black pellets are known as styrene butadiene rubber or crumb rubber, which is made of crushed, recycled tires. The tires are made of mercury, lead, zinc and arsenic along with many other heavy metals, chemicals, and carcinogens. The amount of the substances found in the crumb rubber does not raise concern, but repetitive exposure does. Goalies are exposed to the substances in the rubber more frequently than most other athletes due to diving drills. Amy Griffin, women’s soccer associate head coach at the University of Washington, put together a list of 38 American soccer players that got cancer after repetitive exposure to turf. Thirty-four of these players are goalies. Blood cancers, such as lymphoma and leukemia, were by far the most common type on the list. Although, multiple studies have been conducted, there are no conclusive results connecting exposure to turf with cancer.

“Some experts swear turf is as safe as grass, and others argue that it contributes to more injuries especially of the knees and ankles,” Family Nurse Practitioner Chris Cambell said.

Artificial turf was created to help reduce concussions and to soften the fall of athletes, but when further research was conducted, they found that while it does not increase the concussion rate, it does increase the leg injury rate. Turf also allows a better grip for the athletes, but the overpowering grip does not allow for one’s leg to give way, as it would on grass. The extra force puts more pressure on joints and can cause an injury. The anterior cruciate ligament injury rate on artificial turf compare to grass is 88 percent higher and ankle injuries are 48 percent higher.  Athletes also suffer more abrasions on the turf than on grass fields, but the abrasions are not any more serious.

“It’s horrible for football and turf burns are the worst,” football player Marco Merola said.

Artificial turf overheats and can burn athletes’ feet. A 2011 Penn State study revealed that in 76 degree sunny weather the artificial turf surface was 155 degrees. This not only makes hydration critical, but also increases the chance of organic compounds and chemicals to release into the air. Studies found that the level of the chemicals released is high enough to be  concerning, but not dangerous.