Letter to the Editor: Artifical Turf Poses Health, Flooding and Environmental Risks

(This letter was written by Michelle Sterling of Brayton Road)

Dear Board of Education, Superintendent Patrick, Mayor Arest, Village of Scarsdale Board of Trustees, and Village Manager Marshall,

Thank you for your joint field study and work to address the optimal use of fields for Scarsdale students and residents.

This letter is to express my strong opposition to the installation of artificial turf fields due to the serious health, flooding and environmental risks for our residents and town.

The benefits of artificial turf, as touted by their manufacturers, include 24/7 use, all-weather play, and a maintenance-free field. This pitch makes the allure understandable.

Science however presents a more sobering reality.

Health Risks – Toxins from rubber infill
A typical artificial turf field utilizes rubber infill made of toxic chemicals, including known carcinogens and neurotoxins. Crumb rubber dust and small pieces are inhaled and ingested during gameplay. As the fields heat up, the rubber off-gasses and the toxins are further inhaled.

Health Risks – Toxins from plastic
Artificial turf’s green plastic includes toxic chemicals in its makeup. Anti-static chemicals are used, as well as flame retardant chemicals, and perfluorinated chemicals (PFAs), which have already been banned in Europe and increasingly throughout the US due to their toxicity. Young and developing children are especially vulnerable to the toxic exposures from the chemicals in artificial turf.

Health Risks – Compacted surfaces
Statistics show that injuries are actually more common on artificial turf surfaces. The G-max rating - the ability to absorb impact – of artificial turf surfaces are high when they are first installed. The surface quickly changes however as the materials are compacted, leaving a rock-hard surface that makes injuries more likely and more severe.
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Health Risks – Extreme heat
Studies from Brigham Young University show that artificial turf averages over 30 degrees hotter than asphalt and over 80 degrees hotter than natural grass. On a hot sunny day, artificial turf fields can reach 180-200 degrees.

With warmer weather now occurring for more months throughout the year, there will be an increasing number of days where artificial turf gets too hot, causing it to be unusable. This will reduce playing time in periods of high heat (which are becoming increasingly frequent).

Dehydration, heat stroke and other serious heat-related illnesses have spurred turf manufacturers to sell water cannons for field cooling, even though the water only reduces the temperature for about 20 minutes, at which time the process has to be repeated. Heat also increases the off-gassing of artificial turf’s toxic chemicals, which makes them more problematic due to inhalation exposure.

Health Risks – Cancer risks for athletes
There are a growing number of reports of higher than usual cases of lymphoma and leukemia among athletes playing on artificial turf, especially soccer goalies, who regularly dive onto the turf, releasing dust and infill particles, that they then inhale and absorb.

Environmental Issues – Plastic disposal
There is also the concern about the eventual disposal of artificial turf fields. Every 10 years when the plastic field has reached its useful life, it will need to be disposed of. What this means is that every ten years we are going to send to our County incinerator literally tons of plastic to be burned. It feels completely against everything we should be and are doing in Scarsdale environmentally to take out nature and install plastic in its place.

Environmental Issues – Green space elimination
Climate change is no longer a future event. We are living it. Just this week we are experiencing 80 degree days in November. In school and at home we teach our kids about climate change and stress the need to address it. It seems wholly antithetical to what we know to be reality, to lay down a sheet of plastic on top of nature. Green-tinted plastic is not green space.

Environmental Issues – Flooding exacerbation
Scarsdale is facing flooding issues, and the loss of environmentally beneficial natural grass, which will only create more flooding issues. Logically, given our flooding issues, it does not make sense to take a step that will decrease water absorbtion and exacerbate flooding.

Scarsdale Middle School – No safe option
For the middle school in particular, it is being proposed that the entire playing field is covered with artificial turf. What will happen to the student or family that does not want their children playing on artificial turf? What will be their option and is it fair to leave families without one? All children should have an option to play outside in a safe environment.

Natural Grass – Many benefits
Naturally maintained grass fields require no chemical use, as beneficial soil microbes deal effectively with body fluids. Natural grass does not need to get disposed of every 10 years. Natural grass does not need to be filled with toxic rubber pellets. Natural grass maintains a cool temperature and in fact absorbs and disperses heat and sequesters carbon.

Natural Grass – Please explore it further and provide more detail
In the next version of the field study proposal, please include more detail on the ways to retain and improve our natural grass fields. My suggestion would be to seek a proposal on this from an expert in this area. For example, Chip Osborne, President of Osborne Organics, 781-254-7862, has many years of experience in creating safe, sustainable and healthy athletic fields and landscapes through natural grass management. The Village used him successfully until 2016 under former Parks Dept Superintendent Jason Marra.

The October field study presentation came up with the easy answer and recommendation of using artificial turf to solve the question of extending field play. However, the easy answer is often not the best one, or the only one, and I implore you to please explore and consider natural grass field improvements.

I realize the desire of the community to have extended playing seasons and increased field use. I am a parent of a Scarsdale student athlete who is now a college athlete. My daughter played on Scarsdale’s fields for her entire time in Scarsdale and I have seen my share of rainouts and reschedulings. That being said, not having artificial turf fields in no way hindered her sports career, and I am forever thankful for her health as she didn’t have to play on artificial turf while at Scarsdale. Please consider the serious risks of covering our fields with a combination of plastic and rubber. Let’s instead create improvements to our natural grass fields that will increase their playing time.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Michelle Sterling
Brayton Road
Scarsdale, NY

Note: Comments on the Field Study can be submitted here through Monday, November 11, or can be emailed to the Village of Scarsdale Board of Trustees mayor@scarsdale.gov and the Board of Education boardofed@scarsdaleschools.org next week.