Furthermore, stormwater now must stay onsite for a certain period of time to minimize flooding in a vault or a tank, which will increase the project’s costs. Downie and Farrell explained that the drainage system is under the field. “The only way it’s going to get into the drainage system would be the same way it gets into your car, or into your house, is that somebody takes it there, inadvertently or whatever,” Downie said.
Kyla Bennett, the director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), one of the most prominent national organizations advocating against artificial turf, wrote to The Retrospect that focusing on the infill alone is “missing the bigger and more important point.” Bennett said the artificial grass fibers and its backing are “seriously dangerous,” as “these are the parts of the artificial turf field that contain concerning quantities of PFAS that leach off.” The artificial plastic grass blades pose a particular risk as they are also inevitably dispersed and break down in the environment.
