Study links ‘forever chemicals' to synthetic turf playing fields

If you have a child that plays football or soccer, chances are that they've probably played on synthetic turf.

But there are growing concerns over the safety of these popular fields, and a local research study found chemicals in the turf that could potentially be harmful to our health.

Cesar Caro is a soccer player. Like many athletes, he plays on both synthetic turf and grass. Although he prefers grass, he says playing on turf has its benefits too.

”It’s slick," Caro said. "Especially in the rain, it’s quicker."

A recent study with the Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility (PEER) — an independent watchdog group — took a closer look at what's actually in synthetic turf.

“It was just to see if there was anything there, and indeed there is," Kyla Bennett, the director of science policy for the nonprofit, said.

In the summer and fall of 2023, Bennett conducted an experiment involving local 9-year-old soccer players and their coach to see if they were exposed to PFAS, otherwise known as "forever chemicals," which break down very slowly over time.

"We wondered whether or not these athletes were getting PFAS from their skin because the three roots of exposure for PFAS are absorption, inhalation and dermal absorption," Bennett said. "We had the kids play three games on grass and three games on artificial turf, and we merged those wipes. All the grass games went into one sample, and all the artificial turf games went into another sample."

She says their hands were wiped with a wipe that was free of PFAS and sent to a commercial lab to be tested.

"What we found was that the amount of PFAS on their hands almost doubled when they played on artificial turf," Bennett said. "We did not see the same thing when they played on grass. In fact, most of them lost PFAS from their hands when they were playing on grass.”

Bennett says the study was preliminary, not comprehensive nor peer-reviewed, but that it raises a red flag.

"It showed that these kids and frankly anybody who's playing on artificial turf is likely picking up PFAS on this skin," Bennett said.

Dianne Woelke, a retired nurse and member of Safe Healthy Play Fields, has been working hard to address these concerns too.

"The PFAS chemicals are so toxic that they are measured in parts per trillion," Woelke said. "For every 80,000 square feet of plastic turf there is between one and 38 pounds of various PFAS chemicals."

Woelke says the tire crumbs in between the synthetic blades of turf are toxic too, adding that tire crumbs have been found to have over 350 chemicals in them.

"The PFAS that they are finding on their hands is likely going to be a lower level that they’re getting on the rest of their bodies when they’re getting overheated because vasodilation allows the body to absorb even more of the chemicals," Woelke said.

According to the federal government, scientists are still trying to determine how exposure levels impact our health, but studies show that exposure to certain PFAS may be harmful. PFAS can be detected in water, food and even human blood because of their widespread use, according to the EPA.

”Parents need to be made aware. Just because a consumer product has been made for sale does not mean it is safe," Woelke said.

The Synthetic Turf Council emailed this statement to NBC 7:

"Communities, schools, businesses and families across the country are choosing synthetic turf because of the significant benefits it offers, including being accessible year-round, being more affordable to maintain and protecting the environment through reduced water and chemical usage. The synthetic turf industry is proud to deliver quality products that make a positive difference and are used by thousands of communities nationwide.

“STC is proud that our turf manufacturer members are already working with existing customers, states and local governments to demonstrate the continued safety of our products and are committed to ensuring their products contain no intentionally added PFAS."

This year, TenCate, a U.S.-based synthetic grass producer, announced that it would start manufacturing PFAS-free synthetic turf.

There are benefits of turf — it's drought resistance, cuts back on water use and can be used rain or shine.

But, cities in California are already asking residents to not install it. Back in October, the Millbrae City Council passed an ordinance that prohibits the installation of synthetic grass and artificial turf.

Even following PEER's latest study, Bennett and Woelke both agree more research needs to be done to test the safety of synthetic turf.

”I want someone to pay attention to this, do a better study and find out if it’s worth the risk," Bennett said.

"There needs to be documentation of the process that was used," Woelke said. "A proper chain of custody, as well as actual testing results, and it needs to be published in a peer review article.”