Turf Town Hall #2: What You Need to Know about Toxic PFAS in Plastic Turf

Our supporters are very concerned about exposure to toxic chemicals in the plastic turf. And there has been a lot of attention in the media lately about PFAS, which is found in plastic turf.  

Watch the Turf Town Hall ‍

So we have invited 4 national experts on different aspects of plastic turf playing fields to give you science-based straight talk about it. 

• Jeff Gearhart, Research Director of the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor. Jeff, who first discovered PFAS in plastic turf, will review the scientific research on PFAS.
  

• Diana Zuckerman, President of the National Center for Health Research. Diana is a Phd, health policy specialist, former advisor to President Clinton and President of the National Center for Health Research in DC. She spoke about the toxic effects PFAS has on human health.
  

• Diana Carpinone, President and co-founder of Non-Toxic Communities. Diana is an environmental activist and president and co-founder of Non-Toxic Communities. She refuted the talking points of pro-plastic turf advocates and shared her perspective on how to push back against the unhealthy environments.

• Robert Patton, a natural grass expert from Turf Center Lawns in Montgomery County MD, spoke about what’s involved in creating and maintaining quality, high-traffic natural grass playing fields that hold up as well as plastic turf. His company was also involved in installing the Dwight Mosley Field in NE DC, which the community insisted be natural grass.

The takeaway from this hour long meeting: PFAS are definitely found in plastic turf, they have serious toxic effects on health, and it is absolutely possible to create high-use natural grass playing fields that hold up as well as plastic turf, without the toxic chemicals.

Interestingly, just a week after the Turf Town Hall, on June 15, 2022, the EPA announced Health Advisories for 4 PFAS chemicals: PFOA, PFOS, HFPO and PFBS, along with $1 Billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to strengthen health protections. 

In a Washington Post article about EPA's action, Melanie Benesh, legislative attorney at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization, said:  “Today’s announcement should set off alarm bells for consumers and regulators. These proposed advisory levels demonstrate that we must move much faster to dramatically reduce exposures to these toxic chemicals.”

At the same time that EPA was releasing the PFAS health advisories, scientists found evidence of PFAS in a plastic turf field in Portsmouth NH. A study showed multiple PFAS compounds including PFOS and Gen-X were found in the field components. Some of these levels were above the EPA's new health advisory limits.

Read the Washington Post article about PFAS

And another Washington Post article about the effect of PFAS exposure on blood pressure

Read the EPA announcement about PFAS

Read EPA's PFAS Health Advisories

Read an article about the Portsmouth NH study

Watch Friends of the Field's Turf Town Hall 

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