How artificial turf threatens biodiversity and your health

It's been 21 years since a group of scientists first coined the term "microplastic" in a article published in the magazine ScienceSince then, these tiny particles, less than 5 millimeters in size, have become increasingly present in seas and oceans around the world, including Arctic sea ice.

But it's not necessary to travel so far, as citizens who swim on the beaches of Barcelona, ​​for example, do so among a mixture of tire debris, cosmetics, textiles, paint, food packaging, and, to a large extent, artificial turf. That's why the scientific community is questioning the need to cover sports centers, music festivals, playgrounds, and schoolyards with green plastic mats, which endanger biodiversity and marine ecosystems, as well as human health itself.

The Marine Geosciences research group at the University of Barcelona (UB) is the first in the world to have characterized and quantified the percentage of artificial turf found in the aquatic environment. "It's 15% of the largest plastics we found floating!" warns ICREA professor Anna Sánchez Vidal, oceanographer, environmentalist, and member of the group. To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed 217 samples collected off the coast of Barcelona and 200 at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, thanks to their collaboration with volunteers. They found fiber concentrations exceeding 200,000 per km².² in the first case, and up to 20,000 per km² in the second. Up to date!

These fibers, according to the study published in the journal Environmental Pollution in 2023, are mainly made of polyethylene (83.3%) and polypropylene (13.7%), the most widely used polymers in the global production of synthetic turf thanks to their strength and durability. "We must bear in mind that, apart from the green strands, artificial turf contains rubber, which are small black pellets generally made from recycled tires to cushion the surface. What we have identified are the fibers, because we cannot tell if the rubber is a remnant of the turf or a truck tire. An EU regulation prohibits the construction of artificial turf fields with the current rubber system from 2030 onwards because it is highly polluting and harmful to health.

Compounds that can be toxic

During the plastic manufacturing process, a host of chemical compounds are used to adjust its properties—color, flexibility, insulation, impermeability, etc.—some of them toxic. In total, there are 12,000 compounds. This doesn't mean that a plastic contains all of them, but it is true that "sometimes chemicals can reach 50% of the total percentage of the plastic material, so it's not a negligible amount," says Ethel Eljarrat, director of the Institute for Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies (IDAEA-CSIC). The researcher, a chemist by training, participates in the in the ONHEALTH group, which studies the pathways of exposure to chemical compounds present in plastic. One of the projects they are carrying out focuses on the problem of recycling tires to make rubber for playgrounds, athletics tracks, and artificial turf fields, among others, since "when plastic containing chemical compounds is recycled, they don't disappear."

"On the one hand, synthetic rubber contains these compounds, which can be toxic. On the other, there is an even greater presence in recycled tire rubber. If this material must be used, synthetic is better than recycled," says Ethel Eljarrat. "In any case," maintains Anna Sánchez Vidal, "even if companies create theoretically sustainable fields by replacing rubber with other elements, in the end, they still end up with green polyethylene strands that end up in the sea."

Between 1,200 and 1,400 artificial turf sports fields are installed in Europe each year, according to data from the UB's Marine Geosciences research group. Pollution occurs because the filaments break down into increasingly smaller particles, both due to the effect of ultraviolet light and the continuous friction of players' or users' shoes with the surface. With wind and rain, these microplastics travel through runoff until they reach aquatic systems such as rivers and seas. The Llobregat and Besòs rivers, for example, dump between 0.4 and 0.6 tons of plastic into the Mediterranean Sea each year, according to the report. a European study Researchers from the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA) participated in these experiments. We're talking mainly about bags, bottles, and plastic wrap for food. Imagine everything that's not visible to the naked eye.

In the sea, plastic waste is mistaken for natural foods such as plankton, which many species feed on, or is accidentally ingested, causing, in both cases, intestinal blockages, internal injuries, malnutrition, and even death. The presence of these tiny particles, less than 5 millimeters in size, It has been described in more than 690 species, mainly marine – fish, turtles, birds, seals, dolphins, whales, of which 200 are edible. The mussels we ate on Sunday for our appetizer contain microplastics, as do the sardines, anchovies, sea bream, docks and sole from the southern Mediterranean, according to us. an article published in the magazine Environmental Research the year 2022.

Small-scale disaster: in the home garden

We can also experience environmental disaster on a small scale in our own gardens. "When you cover a surface with artificial turf," explains Sánchez Vidal, "you reduce biodiversity: lizards, ants, bees, butterflies, crickets cease to exist because it's plastic. And if it rains, the water doesn't infiltrate." With recent periods of drought, the demand—and the price, of course—of artificial turf has skyrocketed, with the theoretical excuse that it's more sustainable. But producing one square meter of this turf requires 4,000 liters of water, "the same amount as maintaining one square meter of natural turf for 18 years." Furthermore, the UB study has determined that this artificial material heats up 50 degrees Celsius more than a natural surface. Therefore, it increases the heat island effect of cities, and watering is necessary to lower the temperature. In Chile, during last year's heat wave, the artificial turf melted, points out Sànchez Vidal.

With everything we have listed so far, you can get an idea of ​​what it means for a music festival like Primavera Sound to land in the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, ​​​​with thousands of people stepping on it. a gigantic green carpet of 28,740 m² which is fragmenting into increasingly smaller particles right off the coast. At least until the 2024 edition, as we can see in a video The installation of the decorative grass surface uploaded by the company that produces it on YouTube. Actions such as selective waste collection, reusable cups, and the calculation of CO emissions₂ They do not seem sufficient, therefore, to proclaim themselves as a sustainable festival and "respectful of the environment in all its aspects."

This newspaper has contacted the organizers using the dedicated press form on their website. So far, no response has been received to the question of whether, despite scientific evidence to the contrary, this synthetic product will be present this year as well.

Artificial grass, especially toxic for children

The toxicity of microplastics depends on several variables, such as shape, size, exposure time, and the presence and origin of added chemical compounds. Not everyone is affected equally, but we do know that some populations are at risk: "Children are at risk because the level of contamination that reaches the body is relative to body weight: if a microgram of contaminant reaches the body, it's not the same distributed over 70 kg as it is over 10 kg," explains chemist Ethel Eljarrat of IDAEA. Another factor is the fact that, in a playground, children lie on the ground and put their hands in their mouths.

In 2021, Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research (National Center for Health Research, NCHR), an American organization dedicated to health research, wrote a letter in a local newspaper Concerned about the lack of concern from some officials about the impact of artificial turf on children across the country. "It is a scientific fact that artificial turf (as well as rubber playground surfaces) exposes children to lead, as well as hazardous chemicals that affect their hormones [...] and can cause or exacerbate the following health problems: attention deficit, early puberty, obesity, and asthma.

Microplastics can enter our bodies through inhalation of airborne particles and through ingestion of food and beverages, although contact between nanoplastics—smaller than 1 micrometer (0.001 mm)—and the epidermis is also considered. In recent years, a growing number of studies demonstrate that they can enter the bloodstream and spread to various organs and tissues, such as the liver, lungs, intestines, testicles, placenta, and even brain tissue. "Today, the question is determining, of all the microplastics that enter our bodies, which ones are eliminated and which ones are not," notes the director of the Institute for Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies (IDAEA-CSIC).

Chemicals in synthetic turf, in particular, can mimic or interfere with the action of the body's natural hormones, disrupt the endocrine system and cause adverse health effects, according to a recent work in vitro. It has also been established a possible link between brain cancer rare disease –glioblastoma– that killed six Philadelphia Phillies players and the toxic chemicals present in the artificial turf at the stadium where they played a good part of their careers and it is not the only place in the world where this type of cases have been reported. The Netherlands has already banned green carpets after a study found that 58 of the 60 fields analyzed contained between 1.5 and 3.7 times more carcinogenic compounds than those allowed in consumer products.

Plastiansity no, thanks

However, Ethel Eljarrat recommends not falling into the plasticity, since we have been exposed to chemical compounds in small quantities throughout our lives and many do not cause any type of effect. "What we have to try is eliminate those for which there is scientific evidence that they are toxic", which doesn't always happen as quickly as it should. In the case of bisphenol A, which is banned in plastic bottles and containers containing baby food but not for adults, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) established a maximum daily dose, but as the investigation progressed, it had to lower the value.

Aside from legislation, there's a part that's in our hands, such as avoiding the paradox of putting a green carpet in our garden "to imitate nature because it gives us emotional well-being, when in reality it's a plastic surface that kills all diversity, increases the planet's temperature, and pollutes rivers and oceans," concludes environmentalist Sànchez.