SOMA Action Climate Athletic Field Working Group educates the public and local decision makers on the facts of natural turf grass versus plastic / synthetic / artificial turf. Working with communities from NJ and around the country, we continually assess the latest events and research.
Natural versus Plastic Turf
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Installation: Artificial turf costs 3 - 10 times more to install than natural grass. In most cases, an existing grass field does not require “installation,” only renovation through improved maintenance.
Maintenance: When the cost of replacing the plastic rug every 10 years is factored in, maintaining an artificial turf field costs 2 - 10 times more per year than maintaining natural grass. (Here is a recent cost comparison, starting at 27:50. Also see References below.)
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To prevent flooding and protect drinking water, NJDEP recently enacted new Stormwater Rules. These rules apply to new artificial turf, but not to existing grass fields. Building a turf field will cost more because of new requirements to store and treat stormwater.
NJDEP classifies artificial turf field as an impervious surface. Since the base of a turf field is highly compacted during construction and is fitted with an underdrain, rain cannot soak into the ground and recharge the aquifer.
Turf fields are designed to shed water rapidly through their drain system. However, municipal systems are “rarely able to accept directly the huge volumes of stormwater” draining from multi-acre turf fields. This means flow controls and storage ponds or underground tanks are necessary.
Larger detention areas will now be required because
With climate change we expect 30% more rain in Essex County.
Storage areas must accommodate 100-year storm volumes.
New NJDEP rules require that, compared with the pre-existing grass fields, stormwater volume leaving the site must be reduced, groundwater recharge must be increased, and water quality must be improved.
Field location impacts stormwater management cost, and risk. Sites at the bottom of slopes have higher water tables and receive more surface flow than hilltop sites.
Surface flow from outside the project perimeter increases the volume which must be managed, and carries debris that can clog drainage. An auxiliary drainage system may be required.
An elevated water table or substantial groundwater fluctuation reduces underground storage capacity, and can cause subsidence of the stone base of a turf field.
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Usable hours
Turf field vendors claim fields can be used 3000 hours per year.
However, the main demand for playing fields in most communities is concentrated in the 10-12 week spring and fall youth sports seasons. Since children are also in school at this time, field use is limited to after school and weekend.
Maximum scheduled field usage is thus 800-1500 hours/year.
Well-maintained grass supports this level of use.
Compare to other districts.
Wet fields
Natural grass often withstands big rain/flood events better than artificial turf. With Hurricane Ida, when turf fields in Hackensack, New Milford, Ridgewood and Englewood were destroyed, in each case coaches were able to move practice to nearby grass fields. Artificial turf repair is expensive.
With proper footwear, sports teams can play on artificial turf during rain or when the field is wet. However, gym classes are unlikely to use the field under rainy conditions as wet turf fields are slippery without turf shoes.
Heat
Heat reduces artificial turf usability. Grass is cooler.
In direct sunlight, surface temperatures of turf can reach 160F or more.
A series of surface measurements of Underhill turf field and adjacent grass June-September 2024 found the artificial turf surface was reliably 50F hotter than grass.
To protect player health, some communities close turf fields when air temperature exceeds 85F and humidity is 60% or more.
Heat generated by artificial turf affects the temperature of nearby buildings, increasing the need for air conditioning. Trees and grass will require more water due to nearby turf.
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Methane
The polyethylene in plastic grass off-gases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The amount of methane released is proportional to surface area which, because each field contains millions of plastic grass blades, is many times the area of the field.
Plastic pollution of waterways
15% of ocean and river plastics comes from artificial turf fields.
Microplastics and artificial turf field leachate kill fish.
To protect waterways and the fishing industry, in 2023 the European Union banned the sale of products containing microplastics, including granular artificial turf infill.
PFAS (“forever chemicals”)
PFAS are a class of chemicals that persist in the environment and bioaccumulate in the human body. Their effects are not “acute” (immediate), but long-term, and include developmental and endocrine system disruption, reproductive harm, cancer, and damage to the liver, kidneys and respiratory system. PFAS are so toxic that their presence is measured in parts per trillion.
All existing plastic grass contains PFAS. Manufacturers have admitted they will not be able to develop alternative production processes that do not use PFAS before 2026 or later. New York State has enacted a phase-out and ban.
Exposure studies are underway. A recent study found skin swabs of 6-year-olds playing on artificial turf contained PFAS, while swabs from kids playing on grass fields did not.
Human exposure
Chemicals found in artificial turf include known carcinogens, mutagens and endocrine disruptors. Microplastics have recently been discovered to pose a greater threat to human health than DDT, linked to many health problems including cancer and heart disease. Children are especially vulnerable.
Determining exposure levels experienced by players on artificial turf is the subject of increasing concern and ongoing research.
Shade Trees
Trees and Landscape presentation
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An artificial turf field generates 200,000 - 500,000 pounds of unrecyclable plastic waste every 10 years. For about $120,000 vendor FieldTurf will remove an old field, but “this work can only be performed in preparation for the installation of a new FieldTurf field.”
Discarded turf fields are often dumped in landfills or on empty fields where they pollute the surroundings.
The only recycler in USA, Re-Match, was
2022: Sued for breach of contract for failing to pay for storing discarded turf on a farm.
2025: Denmark branch went bankrupt.
Despite manufacturers’ claims, artificial turf is not recyclable because it contains mixed materials.
Some turf purveyors claim to “recycle” field components by re-selling customers some of their old tire crumb back to them under a new name. The “FieldTurf CoolPlay” infill on Underhill is 50% reused tire crumb (much smaller fragments that disperse more easily with wind and water).
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Cost
Sierra Club NJ, ANJEC, Pinelands Preservation Alliance and Waterspirit’s Webinar: Fighting Artificial Turf in New Jersey, December 6, 2024. Artificial turf vs natural grass cost comparison (by Gregg Lehmberg, Westfield NJ) from 27:50 - 35:44.
Ozanian, Mike (Glen Rock, NJ), “How taxpayers get fooled on the cost of an artificial turf field,” Forbes, updated Oct 3, 2014.
Osborne, Charles and Doug Wood, “A cost comparison of conventional (chemical) turf management and natural (organic) turf management for school athletic fields,” Grassroots Environmental Education, March 2010.
Synthetic Turf Council, Guidelines for Maintenance of Infilled Synthetic Turf Sports Fields. January 2013.
Stormwater Management
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – N.J.A.C. 7:8, “Stormwater Management Rules”. Last amended July 17, 2023.
NJDEP, Best Management Practices Manual. Chapter 5: “Stormwater management quantity and quality standards and computations,” Chapter 6: “Groundwater recharge,” July 2023.
Hudepohl, Michael R., “Modeling stormwater runoff from synthetic turf fields using HYDRUS and SWMM,” Master’s thesis, University of Cincinnati, February 28, 2014.
Hudepohl, Michael R., Buchberger, S.G., & Shuster, W.D., “Hydrology of synthetic turf fields: modeling approach with field data,” Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Vol 142, No 5, 2016.
Strohman, Bryan P., “Drainage of artificial turf systems: lessons learned,” American Sports Builders Association Meeting, December 9, 2019.
Synthetic Turf Council, Guidelines for Synthetic Turf Base Systems, February 2017.
Procopio, Nick, NJDEP Div Science and Research memo, Synthetic turf impacts on storm water and flood resilience, and potential for heat island and heat-stress effects, June 2022
Usability
Total hours
PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies Green Teams 2024 (Montclair State University,) Case study: Natural grass vs. artificial turf for Verona’s Centennial Field. Presented to town government Aug 5, 2024.
Wet fields
northjersey.com, “Dwight Morrow football field among those ruined by Ida flooding,” , Sept 3, 2021.
The Ridgewood Blog, “Not getting any smarter all these years later: Flood damage to Ridgewood High School turf fields to cost over $150,000 to repair,” September 14, 2021.
Heat
Williams, C. Frank and Gilbert E. Pulley, “Synthetic surface heat studies,” Brigham Young University.
Serensits, Tom, “Is there any way to cool synthetic turf?” Penn State Center for Sports Surface Research, Sports Turf, June 2011.
Biagiotti, Mark, “Heat policy for artificial turf earns approval,” Daily Times Chronicle, Burlington, MA, Sept. 1, 2017.
Environmental and Health Impacts
Methane
Royer, Sarah Jeanne, “Oceanographer / PhD warns ‘Choosing synthetic turf is choosing to increase GHG emissions, just as we are working so hard to reverse that’ “, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, April 13, 2022
Royer, Sarah Jeanne, “Synthetic turf will contribute to greenhouse gas problems”, MV Times, February 20, 2019
Plastics pollution of waterways
De Haan, William P., Rocio Quintana, Cesar Vilas, Andres Cozar, Miguel Canals, Oriol Uvieda, Anna Sanchez-Vidal, “The dark side of artificial greening: plastic turfs as widespread pollutants of aquatic environments,” Environmental Pollution Vol 334, Oct 1, 2023.
Tian Zhenyu, Haoqi Zhao, Katherine T. Peter et al, “A ubiquitous tire-derived chemical induces acute mortality in coho salmon,” Science, Vol. 371, issue 6525, pp. 185-189, Dec 3, 2020.
Zuccaro, Philip, David C. Thompson, Jacob de Boer, Maria LLompart, Andrew Watterson, Robert Bilott, Linda S. Birnbaum, and Vasilis Vasiliou, “The European Union ban on microplastics includes artificial turf crumb rubber infill: other nations should follow suit,” Environmental Science & Technology 2024, 58, pp. 2591-2594.
PFAS
Bennett, Kyla, “Downsides of artificial turf,” Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, April 22, 2024. p.10.
Crunden, E.A. and Ariel Wittenberg, “’Our community has been deceived’: Turf wars mount over PFAS,” eenews.net Aug 3, 2022.
Peaslee, Graham, University of Notre Dame and Kristen Mello, WRAFT, “PFAS in artificial turf,” NEWMOA Conference, April 6, 2022.
Perkins, Tom, “Boston bans artificial turf in parks due to toxic ‘forever chemicals,’” The Guardian, Sept 30, 2022.
Chemicals of Concern
Celeiro, M. D. Armada, N. Ratola, T. Dagnac, J. DeBoer, M. Llompart, “Evaluation of chemicals of environmental concern in crumb rubber and water leachates from several types of synthetic turf football pitches,” Chemosphere Vol 270, May 2021.
Murphy, Maire and Genoa Warner, “Health impacts of artificial turf: toxicity studies, challenges, and future directions,” Environmental Pollution Oct 1, 2022.
Celeiro, Maria, Thierry Dagnac, Maria Llompart, “Determination of priority and other hazardous substances in football fields of synthetic turf by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry: a health and environmental concern,” Chemosphere vol 195, March 2018, pp 201-211.
Harari, Homero, Sc. D., Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, “Artificial turf and your health,” podcast May 20, 2024.
https://www.turi.org/publications/athletic-playing-fields-2/
Disposal
Laker, Barbara and David Gambacorta, “Forever fields: how Pennsylvania became a dumping ground for discarded artificial turf,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec 13, 2023.
Lundstrom, Marjie and Eli Wolfe, “The dangerous pileup of artificial turf,” The Atlantic, Dec 19, 2019.
E&I Cooperative Services, “FieldTurf_pricing_2017”, bid from supplier Synthetic Turf Solutions pp. 1-15 (2017). “Removal and disposal costs” p. 5.