Bardahl J, Berman Z and Kubena B. ‘My feet are burning’: Eagles-Titans describe playing on scorching 157-degree turf. New York Times. Sept. 20, 2026 Updated Sept. 21, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7614424/2026/09/20/eagles-titans-weather-heat-turf-issues-nissan-stadium/.
MCCPTA 2026 (Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations). MCCPTA Info Session: Real Grass for Healthy Kids. YouTube video here. See Hannah Donart, vice chair of the Health and Wellness Committee, 4:51.
Tretter JC. Why the NFL’s Approach to Field Surfaces Is Uneven. National Football League Player’s Association. https://nflpa.com/posts/nfl-approach-field-surface-uneven. Accessed Sept 23 2026.
Underwood, J. 1971, November 15. New slant on the mod sod. Sports Illustrated, 35(20), 32–38. as cited in Lisle B. 2012. Materiality and Meaning: Synthetic Grass, Sport, and the Limits of Modern Progress. University of Delaware. Material Matters, Selections from the 2012 Material Culture Symposium for Emerging Scholars. https://sites.udel.edu/mcses2012/papers/paper-i/.
Jastifer JR, McNitt AS, Mack CD, Kent RW, McCullough KA, Coughlin MJ, Anderson RB. Synthetic Turf: History, Design, Maintenance, and Athlete Safety. Sports Health. 2019 Jan/Feb;11(1):84-90. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6299344/.
Jastifer 2019
Staton 2026. Synthetic or natural grass? The turf war in a Maryland school district. Officials in Montgomery County say a $55 million move toward more artificial turf reflects the district’s needs, but others point to health concerns. Washington Post. August 14 2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/08/14/montgomery-county-public-schools-add-more-artificial-turf-athletic-fields/.
EPA 2026 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). Children’s Unique Vulnerabilities to Environmental Hazards. https://www.epa.gov/children/childrens-unique-vulnerabilities-environmental-hazards.
OEHHA 2026 (California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment). Synthetic Turf Study: Assessment of Health Risks from Exposure to Chemicals in Crumb Rubber Infill. Final Report. March 2026 By Pesticide and Environmental Toxicology Branch, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, California Environmental Protection Agency. https://oehha.ca.gov/sites/default/files/media/2026-03/oehhaturffinal.pdf.
McFarland MJ, Hauer ME, Reuben A. 2022. Half of US Population Exposed to Adverse Lead Levels in Early Childhood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 7, 2022. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2118631119.
The 54,905 deaths from 1999 to 2020 in the U.S. equates to 7.5 deaths per day on average. See Didier AJ, Li M, Gheeya J, Alahmadi A, Kaufman J, Memmott R, He K, Shields P, Carbone DP, Presley C, Owen D, Roof L. Trends in Mesothelioma Mortality in the United States Between 1999 and 2020. JTO Clinical and Research Reports, Volume 6, Issue 5, 2025, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666364325000207.
Asbestos exposure accounts for the vast majority of mesothelioma deaths, over 90 percent according to: Li WZ, Liang H, Wang W, Liu J, Liu X, Lao S, Liang W, He J. Global mortality burden of lung cancer and mesothelioma attributable to occupational asbestos exposure and the impact of national asbestos ban policies: a population-based study, 1990-2021. BMJ Public Health. 2025 Jul 8;3(2):e001717. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12258307/.
Thomas, K., E. Irvin, J. Zambrana, A. Guiseppi-Elie, AND A. Ragin-Wilson. Exposure Characterization for Athletes Playing on Synthetic Turf Fields with Tire Crumb Rubber Infill. ISES 2024 Meeting, Montreal, CANADA, October 20 - 24, 2024. Available at https://assessments.epa.gov/risk/document/&deid%3D363721.
See Table 4-18 for seasonal averages on outdoor synthetic turf fields, which give an annual average of 290 users daily. Multiplying by the 19,000 fields in the U.S. cited previously gives 5.5 million users daily. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2019-08/documents/synthetic_turf_field_recycled_tire_crumb_rubber_research_under_the_federal_research_action_plan_final_report_part_1_volume_1.pdf
The referenced health and safety studies include:
Connecticut: See Connecticut Department of Public Health’s series of health and environmental studies on artificial turf here: Connecticut DPH. 2026. Artificial Turf Fields. https://portal.ct.gov/dph/environmental-health/environmental-and-occupational-health-assessment/artificial-turf-fields?language=en_US.
Washington: Washington DOH 2017 (Department of Health). Investigation of Reported Cancer among Soccer Players in Washington State. Revised April 2017. DOH Pub 210-091. Available at: https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/schools/artificial-turf/investigation-reported-cancer-among-soccer-players.
California: OEHHA 2026
EPA, CDC and CPSC 2016 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission). Federal Research Action Plan on Recycled Tire Crumb Used on Playing Fields and Playgrounds. Status Report. December 2016. EPA/600/R-16/364. https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/december-2016-status-report-federal-research-action-plan-recycled-tire-crumb.
California’s PFAS tracking: DTSC 2026a (California Department of Toxic Substances Control). Artificial Turf Containing Perfluoroalkyl or Polyfluoroalkyl Substances. https://intl.dtsc.ca.gov/scp/artificial-turf-containing-pfass/.
California’s investigation of microplastics from turf: Artificial turf infill is one of 7 products listed in DTSC’s ongoing investigation of microplastics - DTSC 2026b (California Department of Toxic Substances Control). Microplastics in Consumer Products. Background on DTSC’s Microplastics Research Approach. https://dtsc.ca.gov/scp/microplastics-in-consumer-products/.
Federally funded researchers studying children’s exposures to turf chemicals: NIEHS 2023–2027 (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). Addressing Community Concerns and Assessing Exposures and Alternatives to Artificial Turf Fields and Playgrounds. R01ES034779. Principal Investigator: Homero Harari, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. https://reporter.nih.gov/search/Hb_T5S6Dp0G8A9KW7iHG9A/project-details/11295459.
The $7+ billion market estimate covers all uses of artificial grass turf (indoor and outdoor fields, lawns, etc) globally: Fortune Business Insights. 2026. Artificial grass turf market size. September 7 2026. Report ID FBI103850. https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/artificial-grass-turf-market-103850.
Washington DOH 2017. Note limitations of investigation on page vi: “The purpose of our investigation was to explore whether the information from Coach Griffin’s list warranted further public health response. Our investigation was not designed to determine if soccer players in general were at increased risk of cancer due to exposures from crumb rubber in artificial turf. Our findings do not support further public health response at this time. The available scientific literature suggests exposures to toxic chemicals from crumb rubber are very low, however, questions remain about potential toxicities and levels of exposure. Therefore, we will continue to monitor research in this area.”
Perkins AN, Inayat-Hussain SH, Deziel NC, Johnson CH, Ferguson SS, Garcia-Milian R, Thompson DC, Vasiliou V. Evaluation of potential carcinogenicity of organic chemicals in synthetic turf crumb rubber. Environ Res. 2019 Feb;169:163-172. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30458352/.
OEHHA 2026
Perkins 2019. Of the 306 crumb-rubber constituents identified across 20 publications, 52 were classified by EPA or ECHA as known, presumed or suspected carcinogens and were also flagged as potentially carcinogenic by the authors’ predictive models. Six additional chemicals carried one of these agency classifications but were not flagged by the models, bringing the total with EPA or ECHA carcinogenicity classifications to 58. The predictive models flagged for cancer potential 109 chemicals altogether, including the 52 that also carried agency classifications. The remaining 57 (109 minus 52) were identified as potentially carcinogenic by the predictive models alone, without an EPA or ECHA carcinogenicity classification.
Murphy M, Warner GR. Health impacts of artificial turf: Toxicity studies, challenges, and future directions. Environ Pollut. 2022 Oct 1;310:119841. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119841. Epub 2022 Aug 7. PMID: 35948114; PMCID: PMC10262297. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10262297/.
Stevens S, McPartland M, Bartosova Z, Skåland HS, Völker J, Wagner M; Plastic Food Packaging from Five Countries Contains Endocrine- and Metabolism-Disrupting Chemicals. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19 March 2024; 58 (11): 4859–4871. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c08250.
CEH 2009 (Center for Environmental Health). Astroturf Agrees to Eliminate Lead Threats to Children by Caroline Cox. Aug 14 2009. https://ceh.org/astroturf-agrees-to-eliminate-lead-threats-to-children/.
California DOJ (Department of Justice). 2009. Brown Creates Nation’s First Enforceable Lead Standards for Artificial Turf. https://www.oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/brown-creates-nations-first-enforceable-lead-standards-artificial-turf.
CDC 2025 (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). About childhood lead poisoning prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/lead-prevention/about/index.html.
PEER and Ecology Center 2019 (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility). Toxic Forever Chemicals Infest Artificial Turf. Processing aids that contaminate synthetic turf with PFAS may be in other plastic goods. October 10 2019. https://peer.org/toxic-forever-chemicals-infest-artificial-turf/.
DTSC 2026a. Note DTSC summary of potential exposures: “People who use (e.g., play on) artificial turf can be directly exposed to PFASs through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal absorption. Young children and other sensitive subpopulations are especially vulnerable to the effects of this class of chemicals, some of which are developmental toxicants. In addition to its potential to expose users to PFASs, artificial turf also can release PFASs into the environment, including by leaching PFASs into water. Thus, artificial turf containing PFASs may also adversely impact environmentally sensitive habitats and threatened and endangered species.”
STC 2026 (Synthetic Turf Council). New ASTM Standard Published for Sampling and Testing Synthetic Turf for PFAS. May 11, 2026. https://www.syntheticturfcouncil.org/news/726862/New-ASTM-Standard-Published-for-Sampling-and-Testing-Synthetic-Turf-for-PFAS.htm.
TURI 2026 (Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute). Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Artificial Turf Carpet. https://www.turi.org/publications/per-and-poly-fluoroalkyl-substances-pfas-in-artificial-turf-carpet/.
See, for example, limits for PFAS in drinking water for New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin: EPA 2026 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). U.S. State Resources about PFAS. https://www.epa.gov/pfas/us-state-resources-about-pfas.
In a review of studies of human health impacts from turf, researchers found that in some studies, PAHs and heavy metal exposures exceeded EPA’s upper acceptable threshold for carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk, though exposure assumptions need verification against actual field-use situations. Ryan-Ndegwa S, Zamani R, Martins T. Exploring the Human Health Impact of Artificial Turf Worldwide: A Systematic Review. Environ Health Insights. 2024 Dec 17;18:11786302241306291. doi: 10.1177/11786302241306291. PMID: 39697377; PMCID: PMC11653453. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11653453/
MCCPTA 2026. See transcript for comments by Dr. Mark Carroll, Director, Environmental Science and Policy Program, and Geoffrey Rinehart, Senior Lecturer, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland regarding the grass field at B-CC high school in Montgomery County, MD.
See, for example:
The Guardian. 2023. Artificial turf potentially linked to cancer deaths of six Phillies ball players. The lawn replacement – largely fallen out of favor in professional sports these days – contains large amounts of toxic chemicals. March 10 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/10/phillies-ball-players-cancer-artifical-turf.
Chow S. 2024. Artificial Turf Wars: People Fighting to Protect Their Communities. By Sue Chow, Sierra Club, Loma Prieta chapter. May 30 2024. https://www.sierraclub.org/loma-prieta/blog/2024/05/artificial-turf-wars-people-fighting-protect-their-communities.
See page 37 of 3M’s 2025 SEC filing for a succinct description of the case: 3M Company. Quarterly Report (Form 10-Q), quarter ended March 31, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Filed April 25, 2025. https://investors.3m.com/financials/sec-filings/content/0000066740-25-000039/mmm-20250331.htm.
“In Pennsylvania, in March 2025, 3M, DuPont, and the designers, manufacturers, and distributors of AstroTurf were named in a complaint filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas by former Philadelphia Phillies players alleging personal injury claims (brain, testicular, and thyroid cancers) allegedly resulting from exposure to PFAS and ethylene oxide in AstroTurf at Veterans Stadium. Plaintiffs’ alleged exposures date back to the 1970s. The case was served on 3M in March 2025.”
See, for examples, California’s investigation (DTSC 2026b) and these microplastic studies in Sweden and Australia:
Karlsson H. 2026–2031. Exploring Immune Effects of Microplastics from Urban Surfaces Using a One Health Approach. Uppsala University. Funded by Formas, Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development. Grant 2025-02515. Funding: SEK 5,981,214. September 1, 2026–August 31, 2031. https://www.uu.se/en/research/research-projects/project?query=2025-02515_Formas.
AUSMAP 2026. Coastal Councils Managing Waste Generation from Synthetic Turf. Synthetic Turf Field Rapid Appraisal Toolbox and Workbook. https://www.ausmap.org/rapid-appraisal-toolbox.
Zuccaro P, Thompson DC, de Boer J, Llompart M, Watterson A, Bilott R, Birnbaum LS, Vasiliou V. The European Union Ban on Microplastics Includes Artificial Turf Crumb Rubber Infill: Other Nations Should Follow Suit. Environmental Science & Technology. 2024;58(6):2591–2594. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c00047.
Staton 2026