he ‘plastic pitch’, as artificial turf has
come to be known, offers stadium
managers low maintenance and
surface durability that can hold a
greater number of games and other
events where all-natural turf would struggle.
Since the sporting world saw the first fully
artificial playing surface installed in 1964 by the
Ford Foundation at Moses Brown School, Rhode
Island, USA, its technology has gone through
several generations to improve performance and
playability. However, the material from which its
synthetic grass fibers are made from, which is a
man-made polypropylene or nylon, have remained
largely the same. In the current climate, plastic is
SYNTHETIC TURF
a problem, so the debate over the environmental
credentials of artificial turf versus natural turf
wages on.
Impacting the development of synthetic turf
includes concerns over the chemicals used during
their manufacture, microplastics entering the
environment during and after use, and the issue
of disposing older artificial pitches that have been
replaced. There are also potential health risks being
investigated. The rubber crumb used as infill for
first- and second-generation products are typically
procured from recycled tire rubber and contain
a cocktail of chemicals that the US Department
of Health and Human Services National Toxicology
Program has been investigating the effects of.
www.stadia-magazine.com September 2019 49
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