The Lowell Center receives many questions from communities asking about health and environmental issues associated with certain athletic fields and playground surfacing materials. The reports, factsheets, case studies, webinars and videos listed can help your community understand the hazards related to artificial turf and synthetic playground surfacing, and learn how to adopt and manage safer alternatives: sustainably managed grass on athletic fields and engineered wood fiber or wood chips on playgrounds.
- Artificial turf concerns: one page flyer- Summary flyer (pdf)
- Athletic Playing Fields: Choosing Safer Options for Health and Environment- Report (pdf)
- PFAS in Artificial Turf Carpet- Fact Sheet (pdf)
- Athletic Playing Fields and Artificial Turf: Considerations for Municipalities and Institutions- Fact Sheet (pdf)
- Artificial Turf Infill: A Comparative Assessment of Chemical Contents- Peer reviewed journal article (pdf)
- Testing Artificial Turf Materials: Options and Lessons Learned- Report (pdf)
- Alternatives Assessment Introduction (pdf)
- Cost Analysis (pdf)
- Physical and Biological Hazards (pdf)
- Infills: Overview (pdf)
- Infills: Recycled Tires (pdf)
- Infills: EPDM (pdf)
- Infills: TPE (pdf)
- Building an Organic Maintenance Program for Athletic Fields - Fact Sheet 2021 (pdf)
- Natural Grass Playing Fields Case Study: Denison University, Granville, OH - Case study 2021 (pdf)
- Natural Grass Playing Field Case Study: Southwest Pennsylvania - Case study 2021 (pdf)
- Natural Grass Playing Field Case Study: Martha's Vineyard, MA - Case study 2020 (pdf)
- Natural Grass Playing Field Case Study: Marblehead, MA - Case study 2019 (pdf)
- Natural Grass Playing Field Case Study: Springfield, MA - Case study 2019 (pdf)
- Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) - Organic Grass Care Web page
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Three Massachusetts Communities Maintain Athletic Fields Organically
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Natural Grass Organic Athletic Fields in Springfield, MA
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Organic Management of Natural Grass Featuring Chip Osborne
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Safer Alternatives for Playing Fields
- Cancer & Environment Network of Southwestern PA, Health and Environmental Hazards of Artificial Turf and Safer Alternatives. January 2023. Passcode: q+AckJw1
- Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE), Environmental Health Impacts of Synthetic Turf and Safer Alternatives 2022
- Healthy Building Network (HBN), Selecting an Athletic Turf You Can Feel Good About 2020 Webinar FAQs (pdf)
- 6PPD in Tires: A concern for playgrounds, artificial turf, and more, Collaborative for Health and Environment (CHE), Oct. 9, 2023
- Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) - Playing on Plastic: Artificial Turf Hazards and Safer Alternatives, Aug. 21, 2023
- Everything You Need to Know About Artificial Turf, Center for Environmental Health & Because Health, July 15, 2022
- Organically Managed Grass Athletic Fields (part two of two-part series), Green Building Alliance, March 18, 2022
- Artificial Turf Fields: Health and Environmental Concerns (part one of two part series), Green Building Alliance, Jan. 6, 2022
- Healthy Building Network, Newsletter, Solutions for Safer Turf, Oct. 20, 2021
- Chemical and Heat Hazards of Artificial Turf Athletic Fields, Green Kids Doc (Region 5 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit), Jan. 6, 2021
- Guest Blog: Choosing Safer Athletic Playing Surfaces, Healthy Schools Pennsylvania, Sept. 10, 2020
- Earth Day: Environmental Impacts of Artificial vs. Natural Turfgrass, SodSolutions, April 22, 2019
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