Synthetic turf must be removed from all aspects of LEED certification.

Sustainability:

Synthetic turf does not meet any standard for sustainable materials or development.

The United Nations defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” 

The UCLA Sustainability Committee notes: “In simplest terms, sustainability is about our children and our grandchildren, and the world we will leave them”.

The Rutgers Center for Sustainable Materials definition:

“Sustainable materials are materials used throughout our consumer and industrial economy that can be produced in required volumes without depleting non-renewable resources and without disrupting the established steady-state equilibrium of the environment and key natural resource systems.  Such materials vary enormously and may range from bio-based polymers derived from polysaccharides, or highly recyclable materials such as glass that can be reprocessed an indefinite number of times without requiring additional mineral resources.”

Synthetic turf is a petrochemical plastic, requiring large amounts fossil fuel based oil for production (685 gallons per 2,000 pounds of plastic.  A regulation sized athletic field of 80k sq. feet is 40,000 pounds of plastic).

Synthetic turf contains multiple chemicals in the manufacturing of this mixed plastic product.  It is not recyclable by means other than chopping it up and hiding the toxic materials in down cycled other products or incineration (illegal in CA) via pyrolysis, again down cycling the material into yet more toxic products.  

Rather than the high cost associated with landfilling synthetic turf, at the end of its short “useful” life, it either gets sold or donated to other unsuspecting individuals or organizations, is illegally stored or dumped- often on agricultural land.

Synthetic turf does not save water:

989 gallons of water required to manufacture 10.764 square ft. of plastic turf - 3,744 liters per sq meter.

Water is required for cleaning.  Failure to clean plastic turf as per maintenance instructions voids the warranty.

Water is required to cool the surface, which can readily reach 160F to 180F, and has even been known to reach 226F!  The amount of water needed to cool a playing field has been shown to be 12,000 gallons- and the effect only lasts for about 20 minutes before returning to dangerously high levels.

Synthetic turf contributes to climate change:

Synthetic turf, as with other fossil fuel based plastics, off gasses methane and ethylene.  Land based plastics off gas 2x more methane and 76x more ethylene than plastics in waterways and oceans.  The Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in CA just released a report finding that plastics off gas 4x the emissions of the aviation industry.

Synthetic turf creates heat islands, extending beyond the foot print of the plastic carpet itself.  In the case of sports fields, these heat islands are are visible from satellites in space.

Because plastics degrade with UV, other environmental exposure and grinding action with play, they create higher surface areas, causing increasing off gassing over time.  Because plastic takes hundreds to a thousand plus years to fully decompose, the off gassing continues.

Toxicity:                                                                                                                                                                        Multiple studies and patents have confirmed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), heavy metals, PAHs, phthalates and Volatile Organic Compounds are in synthetic turf.  These chemicals leach into water and soil and aerosolize from plastics.  PFAS chemicals are so toxic they are not measured in pounds, but in parts per trillion (ppt).  One ppt is the equivalent of a single drop of water in 20 olympic sized swimming pools.  

On 10 April 2024, the US EPA issued Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLG) and Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for both PFOA and PFOS in drinking water:

  • The US EPA set MCLGs for both PFOA and PFOS at zero.
  • MCLs were set at 4.0 ppt for PFOA and PFOS, individually.
  • MCLGs and MCLs were established for four additional PFAS chemicals: PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and “GenX” chemicals.
  • MCLGs and MCLs were established at 10 ppt. MCLs set a limit of 10 ppt for any mixture of two or more of: PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and “GenX” chemicals.
  • All of the named PFAS chemicals (and more) have been found in synthetic turf.

In a press release issued 4 March 2024, the CEO of the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) in Oakland, CA stated:

“No one should be inadvertently exposed to toxic chemicals. 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.”

CEH sent a Notice of Violation under the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (Proposition 65) for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) in synthetic turf sold by Lowes and Home Depot since at least March 2021.  Both big box stores had made previous commitments to selling PFAS free carpeting and failed to notify customers of the carcinogenic PFAS chemicals in the products they sold.  Synthetic turf is plastic grass carpeting, made by the same manufacturers and often in the same locations as household and commercial carpeting.

CA Department of Toxic Substances Control  is working to regulate PFAS as a class at the Parts Per Quadrillion (ppq) level due to their extreme toxicity and bioaccumulative effects.  They will also be regulating microplastics as well as PFAS and other chemicals of concern in synthetic turf under regulation in the near future.

Impervious surface:

Synthetic turf is classified as impervious by both the US EPA the State of California and other states.  U.S. EPA has defined impervious surfaces:

“...areas such as gravel roads...that will be compacted through design or use to reduce their impermeability.” It has further defined impervious surfaces as…[a]ny surface that prevents or significantly impedes the infiltration of water into the underlying soil. This can include but is not limited to: roads, driveways, parking areas and other areas created using non porous material; buildings, rooftops, structures, artificial turf and compacted gravel or soil.”

Compaction, in addition to the impervious plastic surface, result in increased runoff.  Despite synthetic turf industry claims, laboratory testing is not the same as reality.  Synthetic turf is unable to handle the amount of rain that comes with an atmospheric river or bomb cyclone.  

Augmented by pollutants that accumulate on impervious surfaces (i.e. exhaust; aviation fuels), one inch of rainfall results in 27,000 gallons of toxic runoff per acre.  A regulation sized soccer field is 80k square feet (1.84 acres).  For areas where snow accumulates on synthetic surfaces, the situation is even more dire as one inch of snow can equal up to 13 inches of rain, significantly increasing the toxic runoff and impacting surface and groundwater, and ultimately drinking water.  

Potential for erosion:

“As impervious surfaces increase, stormwater runoff increases in quantity, speed, temperature, and pollutant load. When impervious surfaces reach 10–20% of local watershed area, surface runoff doubles and continues to increase until, at 100% impervious surface coverage, runoff is five times that of a forested watershed. Excessive stormwater runoff also increases the potential for flooding.”  US EPA Impervious Surface Fact Sheet

Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California San Diego reported 46 total atmospheric rivers along the U.S. West Coast, causing disastrous flooding and loss of property and life during the 2022 to 2023 rainy season.  With what has now been categorized as a Super El Niño year currently, increasing frequency and severity of atmospheric events overall, consideration of synthetic turf is antithetical to environmental responsibility and an even poorer choice for a product that must be replaced every 8 to 10 years on average.

California cities and jurisdictions, along with multiple others across the country are taking action by passing legislation and banning synthetic turf.

Microplastics:                                            

Synthetic turf loses large amounts of microplastcs, creating human and environmental health hazards.  Even with the best BMPs (Best Management Practices), only a small percentage of the microplastics and virtually none of the PFAS and other toxic chemicals from plastic turf can be captured.  Microplastics not only leach chemicals, they adsorb other chemicals and bacteria in the environment.

In humans, micro- and nano-plastics have been found in:

Twelve different types of microplastics were found in 100% of both canines and human testes in research just released by the University of New Mexico. 

 “…the most prevalent polymer in both human and canine tissue was polyethylene (PE).” 

Polyethylene is the most widely used and most frequently discarded plastic.  Synthetic turf is most often made from polyethylene.  So are plastic bags and straws.  

Microplastic synthetic turf blades have been found in Lake Tahoe and the ocean. In 2021, researchers found that synthetic turf fields in Toronto contribute the 2nd highest amount of microplastics to the environment with only litter contributing a higher amount. This makes synthetic turf clearly a major point source of PFAS and microplastic pollution that cannot go unaddressed. 

Additional health hazards:

Failure to clean feces (including infectious diarrhea), urine, blood and saliva from synthetic turf can void the warranty.

Bacteria found on synthetic turf from animals include:

  • Staphylococcus
  • Streptomyces
  • Nocardioldes
  • Hymenobactia

Other bacteria found on synthetic turf include:

  • Williamsia
  • Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA)
  • Rhodococcus
  • Chryseobacterium

We cannot urge you strongly enough to remove synthetic turf from all aspects of LEED certification.

Respectfully submitted,

Diana Conway, President 

Dianne Woelke MSN, Board Member 

Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc. 

https://www.safehealthyplayingfields.org 

SHPFI is an all-volunteer nonprofit 501-c-3