Science is an important focus for our industry. That's why we actively collect and rely on independent research and studies from third-party organizations about synthetic turf and its system components:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and Consumer Product Safety Commission released their Tire Crumb Exposure Characterization Report in April 2024. The study found no significant difference in the exposure from certain chemicals found between players who played on synthetic turf fields that use crumb rubber infill and those who played on grass fields.

Netherlands National Institute for Health and Environment: “The results of this research indicate that playing sports on these fields is safe. The risk to health from playing sports on these synthetic turf fields is virtually negligible. While rubber granulate contains harmful substances, these substances are only released from the rubber granulate in very small quantities after ingestion, contact with the skin or evaporation in hot weather. RIVM recommends adjusting the standard for rubber granulate to one that is closer to the standard applicable to consumer products.” Read more

European Chemicals Agency: “ECHA has found no reason to advise people against playing sports on synthetic turf containing recycled rubber granules as infill material. This advice is based on ECHA’s evaluation that there is a very low level of concern from exposure to substances found in the granules. This is based on the current evidence available. However, due to the uncertainties, ECHA makes several recommendations to ensure that any remaining concerns are eliminated.”  Read more

National Toxicology Program: “There was no evidence of toxicity in mice from ingestion of crumb rubber. Analysis of the animals’ blood and urine showed that internal levels of crumb rubber chemicals were very low. No health problems were observed. For tests using human cells, NTP found that crumb rubber, under certain experimental conditions such as high heat, leached chemicals, some of which caused cell death. The NTP studies did not assess individual chemicals of crumb rubber, although they did confirm that it contains many substances, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals, plasticizers, such as phthalates, and bisphenol A (BPA).” Read more

Washington State Department of Health: The DOH published an April 2017 study testing unsubstantiated claims that soccer goalkeepers were more likely to get cancer due to high levels of crumb rubber exposure, and their research found that the players identified actually had lower rates of cancer compared to peer groups. Read more

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment: The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) released its draft study on synthetic turf. OEHHA conducted this study to assess potential health risks associated with the use of synthetic turf fields containing crumb rubber. Overall, this study found no significant health risks to players, coaches, referees, and spectators from on-field or off-field exposure to chemicals in crumb rubber infill from synthetic turf fields based on the assessment method and available data. 
 

Player safety and synthetic turf

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA): A ten-year study of NCAA men and women's soccer players found that, during practices, players had an increased risk of ACL injury on natural grass fields. The study found no difference in risk of ACL injury when playing on synthetic turf and natural grass during match play. Read more

Major League Soccer (MLS): A four-year study of MLS players conducted by Cedars-Sinai Kerlan Jobe Institute found the rate of injury on artificial turf was “noninferior” to that on natural grass. Read more

Why Turf?