Garden designer Peter Dowdall is on a mission to clean up Ireland and push people to get dirty – the right way. Peter, who has been giving gardening advice for 25 years, wants everyone to stop supporting the use of artificial grass in domestic gardens and on sports pitches – for the health and safety of everybody who shares this island.
A 2024 US study which looked at the skin of several six-year-old soccer players and their coach found athletes who play on artificial turf are likely to be coated with higher levels of toxic PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) than before playing on the field. The study by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) said when the chemicals break off from plastic grass blades, they can be absorbed through the skin, inhaled, ingested or get in open wounds.
