In July, the Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged that synthetic turf contains toxic chemicals, some of which are known to cause cancer. The EPA report was not a formal risk assessment and did not address the potential harm.
PEER and the Ecology Center tested eight different samples of turf. They all tested positive for total fluorine, which suggests the presence of PFAS. PFAS are used in the manufacturing process to make the turf blades pliable enough for extrusion. The organizations tested for 36 types of PFAS, but there may be many other PFAS in synthetic grass.
