"Will my child be playing on a turf field?" was a popular question asked this year to Bulloch County Recreational soccer coach Owen Buff.
"This year was my first year coaching youth soccer for the Rec. department," Buff said. "I was shocked at the first team meeting when a mom asked if her child would be playing on turf or not, I didn't know that was even a concern."
Synthetic turf grass has become a staple in sporting fields, community parks, and playgrounds across the country. In 2019, it was recorded that in the U.S. there were roughly around 12,000 synthetic turf fields, according to news blog Beyond Pesticides.
What is synthetic turf grass?
To simply put it, synthetic turf grass looks like real grass but instead is composed of green, plastic blades -that look like the real thing- and a filling that is a mixture of crumb rubber, flexible plastic pellets, and sand, according to New York State Department of Health.
This artificial grass is used all over the U.S. and has become increasingly a new norm, especially in urban areas.
Synthetic turf grass is not a new invention when it comes to being used in sporting facilities, playgrounds, or public outdoor spaces. It has been used since its introduction in the 1960s, according to the Synthetic Turf Council (STC). However, there is a new question that has been raised: is synthetic turf grass safe for athlete's health?
Parents, athletes, and even coaches have concerns of playing on synthetic turf grass due to the unknown affects of chemicals used within synthetic turf filling can have on an individual's health long term.
"As a former collegiate soccer player, coach, and now father, I have seen the conversation around the safety of synthetic grass become more and more heavily talked about," Omar Morales, former soccer player and coach said. "I know parents of kids on my children's soccer team discusses its safety all the time on facebook soccer groups."
But what's the cause of concern? PFAS.
PFAS stands for per- and polufluoroalkyl substances and are a group of man-made chemicals. These chemicals can be found in different consumer, commercial, and industrial industries.
Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
"This is the concern many parents have about turf, they are worried about these chemicals found in the turf rubber to be linked to cancer," Morales said. "But this is all they just hear about from a crazy post on Facebook."
Although there seems to be much of a concern from parents, there seems to be little concern from the athletes themselves.
Walker Bradberry, Georgia Southern Football punter and kicker, has been playing football for eight years. As a collegiate athlete with years of experience, it comes to a surprise that Bradberry has never heard of PFAS before.
"I have been playing on turf since my senior year of high school and have had some good and bad experiences on artificial turf," Bradberry said. "I have heard about a lot of issues when it comes to turf burn and the cleanliness of turf but I haven't ever heard of PFA chemicals."
For many athletes, like Bradberry, they seem to not be concerned if there is a health risk involved in playing their sport. They would rather simply just play.
Trace Morales, son of Omar Morales and also a soccer player, has also never heard about the concern with PFAS in turf but doesn't think much of it.
"I haven't heard of PFAS chemicals before, but as a player, you never really think too much about the risks and dangers...you just play," Morales said.
Research is still being conducted and studied in order to better understand PFAS and their effects on human health.
However, there are thousands of PFAS chemicals that are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products. This makes it challenging to study and assess the potential human health risks, according to the EPA.
A recent report published by the EPA in April 2024, reaffirms the safety of synthetic turf sports fields that use crumb rubber infill. For agencies like the STC, this is exciting data to share with those who are concerned with PFAS and is considered a breakthrough in the research done on PFAS before.
"We were pleased to see that in the EPA report it reaffirms what other research has shown, that synthetic turf and its system components are safe," Synthetic Turf Council CEO Melanie Taylor said.
The Synthetic Turf Council was founded in 2003, and their mission is to lead, educate, and advocate for the synthetic turf industry. With turf being so widely used, is is clear to see why a council is in-place to help protect a multimillion-dollar industry.
"Synthetic turf systems unlock thousands of hours of additional play across America, save millions of gallons of water annually, and provide a more consistent playing surface." Taylor said. This is why it has become so prevalent across the U.S.
Although new research points to PFAS being more than likely safer than originally thought to be, turf grass still has physical effects on athlete's health. Turf grass has been linked to joint injuries, turf rubber in eyes, and turf burn.
"Turf is a lot tougher than real grass, so I have seen and experienced more injuries on turf than I have on regular grass," Morales said. "I have experienced a sprained AC joint in my shoulder after landing on a turf field."
Bradberry also recalls in his experience that turf for other football players raises a lot of injury risk.
"It raises the risk of injury especially for some positions such as wide receivers, running backs, and cornerbacks," Bradberry said. "Sometimes for kickers, certain turf fields - not Georgia Southern - can be very hard and can cause issues with our joints and can hurt to kick on."
Although the benefits and research on synthetic turf seems to make strides to being safe, there are still few parents who are not fully bought into the idea of turf grass playing fields. Therefore, the "turf wars" is still up for debate.
As for Buff's 8u soccer team mentioned earlier, they finished their season playing eight games on good ole regular grass.
"I am kinda glad we didn't play on turf fields, I think my kids would've been more interested in playing or eating the rubber filler than playing soccer," Buff Said.