The Facts on Turf
The basics: what you and your lawmakers need to know
- Turf is a solution for water scarcity. Artificial turf saves between 500,000 to 1 million gallons of water per field per year. With over 20,000 turf sports fields in the US, that’s approximately 10-20 billion gallons of water saved annually.
- Drought can lead to dry, hard and unplayable natural grass fields. Without turf as an alternative playing surface, sports might be put on hold. This means that banning artificial turf could have serious consequences for our communities. Participation in sports increases the likelihood of attending college, reduces crime and decreases instances of drug use among youth.
Setting the record straight: PFAS, microplastics, heat island effect and recyclability
Turf poses a much lower risk of PFAS exposure compared to many items we willingly encounter daily — some of which we actually put on or in our bodies. If we’re truly concerned about PFAS, turf should be one of the last things we focus on. TenCate turf is now manufactured entirely without added PFAS, and even before this change, it only measured at 100 parts per million.
Here are a few examples:
- Makeup
- Prescription medications
- Dental floss
- Nonstick cookware
- Rain gear
- Contact lenses
- Fertilizers
- Insecticides
- Pesticides
- Fungicides
- Fish
- Water
- Soil
- Plants
- Rain
It actually rains PFAS (That’s not a typo)
What’s even more concerning than raining PFAS are the proposed turf bans. These bans make a lot of assumptions about turf, opting to ban the product entirely rather than regulating the specific undesired aspects. As a result, PFAS-related bans on artificial turf will ban all turf, regardless of its PFAS content.
Since October 2023, all TenCate turf has been manufactured without added PFAS, which should exclude it from bans based on PFAS content.
But that’s not all. TenCate also addresses other concerns highlighted in proposed turf bans, like heat island effect, microplastics and recyclability. Our latest no infill turf, Pivot®, doesn’t act as a heat sink like traditional artificial turf fields filled with rubber infill. For areas worried about the heat island effect, GeoCool™ provides a field cooling solution. Additionally, no-infill turf products reduce fiber degradation and microplastic shedding by eliminating abrasive infill that can potentially migrate off fields.
Our advanced recycling partnership, the first of its kind in the US, ensures turf no longer ends its life in a landfill. Instead, it can be recycled and transformed into new products.
In essence, our turf eliminates the very issues that turf bans are intended to address. So, why is it still part of these proposed bans?
When turf is banned, our communities lose
Artificial turf provides environmental benefits that natural grass simply can’t match, along with increased access to the social benefits of play. Additionally, a ban will bring significant replacement costs and new maintenance requirements for schools and municipalities. In drought prone communities, water restrictions are likely to make the remaining natural grass fields hard, uneven and unsafe for athletes.
Even well-maintained grass fields can’t support as many hours of use as turf, meaning athletes and children will lose access to play if these turf bans pass. And play matters. Physical activity enhances overall well-being, improving physical health and fitness and supporting mental and emotional wellness.
Our environment stands to lose too. Turf doesn’t require regular irrigation and won’t burden precious aquatic ecosystems with overuse or hazardous runoff from chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers, which often contain — or are classified as — PFAS.
With new generations of turf addressing concerns around heat, microplastics, recyclability and PFAS, banning turf will only harm our communities.
Join us to stop the blanket bans on artificial turf.