The seminar seemed straightforward enough. Four experts planned to talk about whether artificial grass, which is used on playgrounds and sports fields nationwide, has health risks for children.
But January’s seminar never happened, after the four speakers were sued for defamation by Polyloom, an artificial-turf maker, based on promotional material for the seminar.
“This was before we even said a word,” said Kyla Bennett, an ecologist formerly with the Environmental Protection Agency who is one of the four defendants.
Polyloom and the artificial-turf industry is responding to a growing body of scientific research showing the presence of harmful chemicals in synthetic turf, and potential environmental and health implications. All this is happening as demand for artificial turf, which is made from plastic and mimics the look and feel of natural grass, is booming globally.
Once mainly used in places like professional football or baseball stadiums, today, artificial grass is common in city parks, community playgrounds and fields for high-school football and soccer. It’s even in some suburban backyards where homeowners want to avoid the need to water or mow the lawn.
Between 1,200 and 1,500 large artificial turf fields were installed in 2023, bringing the total in the United States to around 19,000 fields, according to the latest figures from AMI Plastics, an industry data organization.
As more artificial fields have been installed, the potential environmental and health implications have come under increasing scrutiny, sometimes pitting scientists against the industry and forcing parents and athletes to take sides.
Polyloom said it sued the seminar speakers over statements made in promotional material for the seminar which it described as “misstatements and falsehoods.” In the complaint, Polyloom said that, should the seminar move forward, “Defendants will again assert false and misleading statements that will cause Plaintiff irreparable reputational harm.”
The seminar, titled “The Trouble With Turf,” was described as a debate over turf safety amid new concerns about contamination with PFAS, so-called forever chemicals linked to low birth weight, birth defects and certain types of cancer.
Joe Fields, chief executive of TenCate Americas, part of the Dutch textiles and chemicals conglomerate that owns Polyloom, declined to discuss the lawsuit. But in an interview with The New York Times, he said the chemical compounds in turf were similar to those in surgical sutures and other commonly used products. “I think it’s a lot of misguided concern,” he said.
In May the four defendants countersued, claiming Polyloom had filed a meritless lawsuit. They called it a SLAPP suit, or strategic lawsuit against public participation, the term for cases that aim to punish critics by starting costly court fights. Polyloom sued “for the sole purpose of silencing the plaintiffs, and to induce them to abstain from speaking publicly about a matter of public concern,” the defendants said in their countersuit.
Introduced in the 1960s and named AstroTurf after it was installed at the Astrodome in Houston, synthetic turf fields have been promoted as a low-cost, low-maintenance and water-efficient alternative to natural grass, which can be expensive to maintain, require the use of pesticides and guzzle copious amounts of water.
But turf fields themselves are drawing increased attention. Researchers studying the material used as cushioning beneath the turf — known as “infill,” and long made from shredded car tires — have identified a list of chemicals with the potential to increase the risks of cancer, impair reproductive development and contribute to other health problems.
The detection in artificial turf of PFAS forever chemicals, a class of nearly indestructible chemicals also linked to health harms including low birth weight, birth defects and certain types of cancer, has also raised concerns. And in hot weather, synthetic turf reaches higher temperatures than natural turf fields do, which can lead to heat exposure.
Microplastics, in the form of tiny plastic particles from the infill and the turf’s synthetic blades that break down over time, have emerged as significant sources of plastic pollution. Scientists who collected and analyzed water from the Mediterranean Sea, for example, found that artificial turf fibers made up more than 15 percent of larger plastic particles in their samples.
One of the four people Polyloom sued, Sarah Evans, an assistant professor in the department of environmental medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said communities deserved access to scientific information about potential risks. “I planned to talk very specifically about what we know about potential health risks to children when they play on these turf surfaces,” she said. “Silencing scientists is really hurting communities because they don’t have access to the information that they need to make evidence-based decisions.”
Some municipalities have banned or restricted artificial turf, including Boston and Westport, Conn. The industry has fought similar proposals across the country. A proposed ban in Santa Clara, Calif., failed to move forward this year after opposition from manufacturers as well as local youth sports advocates who said banning artificial turf could limit access to outdoor exercise.
Much of the disagreement over potential dangers stems from the fact that, while harmful chemicals have been detected in both turf and infill, and are likely a source of environmental pollution, there have so far been few direct studies of adverse health outcomes. With more research, that could change, said Vasilis Vasiliou, chair of the department of environmental health sciences at the Yale School of Public Health.
“The exposure exists — the danger exists,” Dr. Vasiliou said. “The science isn’t settled, not because there is no risk but because we still lack the human studies.”
Mr. Fields said TenCate had addressed some of the concerns about infill by switching to organic materials, including cork and olive pits. One of TenCate’s newest fields, Pivot, has as much as three times the amount of “yarn,” which is the top layer that emulates grass, and has no infill at all.
He said the company had previously used PFAS in the manufacture of the yarn, but “in an abundance of caution, we removed it,” he said. “It was an easy thing to do.” Polyloom now uses a non-PFAS proprietary material, the company said.
There are thousands of different kinds of PFAS, and the Environmental Protection Agency has said that there is no safe level of exposure for two of the most commonly detected types.
TenCate provided results of testing that showed that for 19 specific PFAS compounds tested, there were none higher than standard thresholds set by the company. Dr. Vasiliou, who examined the results, said the thresholds set for the testing were reasonable.
The company added that it has used a mechanical recycling process in the Netherlands since 2020 to convert artificial turf into cushioning material for new turf, eliminating the need for crushed tires or other materials. The company also said it was recycling old turf into new products like plastic lumber in the Netherlands, and was introducing these recycling processes in the United States.
There are concerns in the environmental and legal communities about the use of lawsuits to try to silence critics by starting costly legal battles. In March, a pipeline company won a more than $660 million verdict against the environmental group Greenpeace for its role in protests deemed defamatory to the pipeline operator.
Polyloom, in its lawsuit, is seeking at least $75,000 in damages.
JT Morris, a First Amendment lawyer at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the lawsuit had hallmarks of a SLAPP lawsuit, brought not necessarily to win in court but to dissuade people from speaking. “You have a large company suing over a discussion about matters of public concern. That certainly does raise concerns about this being a SLAPP,” he said.
Hiroko Tabuchi covers pollution and the environment for The Times. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years in Tokyo and New York.
Ken Belson is a Times reporter covering sports, power and money at the N.F.L. and other professional sports leagues.
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