This is insane to me. Athletes hate playing on turf, it serves seemingly no purpose, and these chemicals are apparently very bad for you. Yet they are putting down huge plots of it. Is there just...
This is insane to me. Athletes hate playing on turf, it serves seemingly no purpose, and these chemicals are apparently very bad for you. Yet they are putting down huge plots of it. Is there just a turf industry that makes them cheap as hell or something?
"The compounds are linked to cancer, liver problems, thyroid issues, birth defects, kidney disease, decreased immunity and other serious health problems." "Some artificial turf is still produced with ground-up tires that can contain heavy metals, benzene, VOCs and other carcinogens. The material also emits high levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and sheds microplastics and other chemicals into waterways."
It's apparently actually more expensive than natural grass initially, but cheaper in the long run due to requiring far less maintenance, and having higher utilization time: Football field...
Is there just a turf industry that makes them cheap as hell or something?
It's apparently actually more expensive than natural grass initially, but cheaper in the long run due to requiring far less maintenance, and having higher utilization time:
Looking at that chart it seems the utilization time is decisive if you are using the field heavily. If you were using the turf field only 1400 hours costs per hour would be about the same as...
Looking at that chart it seems the utilization time is decisive if you are using the field heavily. If you were using the turf field only 1400 hours costs per hour would be about the same as natural grass. Note 800 hours a year comes to about 15 a week which would be enough for a game a week and 2 hours of practice a day.
One thing I remember about the 1980s was that they built a stupendous number of soccer fields for youth soccer around Manchester, NH and did some monumental earthmoving for them…. These sit empty almost all the time except when people want to use them all at once.
People from dry places are always complaining about the water demands of athletic fields. I remember that talk about the Super bowl this year which was played in Vegas on a real grass field that...
People from dry places are always complaining about the water demands of athletic fields. I remember that talk about the Super bowl this year which was played in Vegas on a real grass field that was beautiful but sure got torn up during the game.
In the sport of field hockey (relegated to a woman’s sport in the U.S. but as big as soccer in India and nearby countries as a men’s sport) there is a strong preference for artificial turf fields which are watered down during breaks in the game to get the ball to behave the way they want it to behave. There are quite a few reasons why artificial turf gets used.
Surely these reasons pale in comparison to the facts from this article about how they infect athletes with PFAS? Why not just not host sporting events in dry areas that require more maintenance?...
Surely these reasons pale in comparison to the facts from this article about how they infect athletes with PFAS? Why not just not host sporting events in dry areas that require more maintenance?
Obviously it's because of these sporting industries but these reasonings are feeble at best.
This is a new result that people are chewing on but it is long known that tire waste is very toxic and the crumb rubber used in athletic fields may be bad news.
This is a new result that people are chewing on but it is long known that tire waste is very toxic and the crumb rubber used in athletic fields may be bad news.
This is insane to me. Athletes hate playing on turf, it serves seemingly no purpose, and these chemicals are apparently very bad for you. Yet they are putting down huge plots of it. Is there just a turf industry that makes them cheap as hell or something?
"The compounds are linked to cancer, liver problems, thyroid issues, birth defects, kidney disease, decreased immunity and other serious health problems." "Some artificial turf is still produced with ground-up tires that can contain heavy metals, benzene, VOCs and other carcinogens. The material also emits high levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and sheds microplastics and other chemicals into waterways."
Can we ban turf already?
It's apparently actually more expensive than natural grass initially, but cheaper in the long run due to requiring far less maintenance, and having higher utilization time:
https://sportsvenuecalculator.com/knowledge/artificial-turf-field/how-much-do-turf-football-fields-cost/
Looking at that chart it seems the utilization time is decisive if you are using the field heavily. If you were using the turf field only 1400 hours costs per hour would be about the same as natural grass. Note 800 hours a year comes to about 15 a week which would be enough for a game a week and 2 hours of practice a day.
One thing I remember about the 1980s was that they built a stupendous number of soccer fields for youth soccer around Manchester, NH and did some monumental earthmoving for them…. These sit empty almost all the time except when people want to use them all at once.
People from dry places are always complaining about the water demands of athletic fields. I remember that talk about the Super bowl this year which was played in Vegas on a real grass field that was beautiful but sure got torn up during the game.
In the sport of field hockey (relegated to a woman’s sport in the U.S. but as big as soccer in India and nearby countries as a men’s sport) there is a strong preference for artificial turf fields which are watered down during breaks in the game to get the ball to behave the way they want it to behave. There are quite a few reasons why artificial turf gets used.
Surely these reasons pale in comparison to the facts from this article about how they infect athletes with PFAS? Why not just not host sporting events in dry areas that require more maintenance?
Obviously it's because of these sporting industries but these reasonings are feeble at best.
This is a new result that people are chewing on but it is long known that tire waste is very toxic and the crumb rubber used in athletic fields may be bad news.