Is Artificial Turf Dangerous?
 

Interesting....
If it is a health hazard, a lot of fields are going to have to be ripped up!
http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/13803826

It is if you eat too much of it.

just wear a condom

I know it gets hot as hell. It typically feels 15-25 degrees hotter on that stuf in the summer.
You can also get some pretty gross burns from it if you slide.

I can see how it would hold bacteria, but I don't see how it would be any more than dirt.

I thought bald was the new look.

Astroturf is nasty. That's just that layer of fake plastic grass on top of concrete. The other stuff isn't too bad, but I think it's hard to get traction. The one with the chopped up pieces of tire instead of dirt is a lot spongier than real grass, and I've tripped because I wasn't used to running on something that gave as much as that crap.

Royals games in the 80's with that turf in august. Good job guys, i am surprised balboni didn't die in that shit

Every high school in Texas had field turf. It was almost always different kind though so I never had a true opinion. I still think Natural grass is just well natural and makes the most sense.

This will screw over lots of schools out there if the field is found to be in any way dangerous outside of the increase in heat. Nobody can afford to take them out to begin with, much less install and keep maintaining natural grass afterward.

Turf sucks to play on (at least, for soccer). The ball bounces too much and it's hard on your knees (even the new stuff with the rubber pellets).

Natural grass is FTW.

Yes it's dangerous. New reports out of Thailand indicate that it killed David Carradine.

It can kill you if you wrap it real tight around your neck and genitals...

ouch

I suppose if you eat it you could cause some problems. People just wanna bitch. You're probably 100 times more likely to die in a accident on the way to the fields.

It is not harder on the knees.

well, they better change it, I can see a lawsuit coming, They've known for years, that injuries are higher on turf than natural grass, and they knew it increased tempature, it's obvious neglect....

This is Field turf, not Astroturf. As far as injuries, its no worse than grass.

How can it be harder on the knees when it provides more cushion than grass?

You'll have your day in court, no time for reason here at the planet....

Apparently you've never stepped foot on artificial turf.

Like playing on the concrete beneath it. Players bitching about it for years is what brought about FieldTurf.

Places like the RCA Dome, Veterans Stadium and the dome here in STL were notorious for having the worst field conditions in the league - all artificial turf.


EDIT: Guess we're talking about FieldTurf. Hard to tell when the video that is linked is about a tornado-proof car.

I know Astroturf is hard. I was not talking about that. I was comparing Field turf to grass. If I were a player, I'd always choose grass. I've never played on Field turf. I've seen a sample of it. A guy I used to work with installs it. Seems to have more cushion than grass.

You missed my edit.

Huh?

Than what? Natural grass? It most certainly is.

It doesn't.

Yes, I did.:D

I'd say that depends entirely upon what kind of grass field you're comparing it to. If it's some ratty-ass field, then sure, it's probably better. A properly groomed natural grass field? No way. That stuff is heaven to play on.

Field Turf is not harder on the knees than natural grass.

I don't know what sports you're playing on grass vs. field turf, but every time I play on field turf, my knees are killing me afterward (and my feet, too). Natural grass gives me no such difficulties.

Natural grass is a lot more forgiving when doing lateral movements than field turf is. Field turf allows no sliding like grass does. It's just not the same.

Soccer. A properly installed FT surface is much more forgiving than a natural field.

Where is your experience? Please do not say All American. ;)

All I can compare is local high school fields...

Would I rather play on LIberty High School's grass (at the HS, where the JV and Freshmen play) or Truman's FieldTurf?

Liberty's grass...no question. Mowed and kept up like a Fairway.


Would I rather play on FieldTurf, like at Truman, or grass like they have at Lee's Summit. FieldTurf, in a second.


I have actually read that there are some growing injury concerns on FieldTurf vs grass. I don't know how or why, but there have been a few studies.


However, as a coach, I'd MUCH rather have FieldTurf. You can practice on it daily, no matter the weather. Only downside for me is I can't chew sunflower seeds on it.

Sounds like an install/maintenance issue then.

If not properly installed and maintained it will turn to crap quickly just like a natural field will die and become hard as a rock.

Only in Estadio Saprissa.

The training complex.

I HATE HATE HATE field turf.

I'll take a properly manicured natural grass field over it all day long, every day.

PS - I don't know how you can stand playing soccer on it. The ball moves unnaturally.

With grass people spit, bleed, blow snot, etc. and it grows out is cut and eventually gone. The turf never goes anywhere, yet players are still spitting on it, etc. and I've yet to know one place that washed down or disinfected their fields. I think this is where bacteria growth can occur more on a turf field.

I think a comparison of a perfect grass field v. field turf is unfair. Very few schools could afford to install and maintain a perfect grass field all the time the way they can install field turf and leave it. The real comparison for most places is an overused field with bare spots and weeds or field turf. With those options, most rightly choose field turf.

I can agree with that.

Now Premier League, MLS, national teams, etc. playing on artificial turf is bs and just wrong, like Costa Rica last night.

Most can not afford to properly take care of a FT field either. You can not just leave it.

I would think the UV rays would help kill a bunch of it.

The BS part is only getting one extra day to practice on the field before playing the game. It does play quite a bit faster so it does take some getting used to.

Sorry bout that, they keep rotating out the video stories at that link. Try this:
http://tinyurl.com/n6c4vg

Show me a team in the Premiership that plays on field turf. Such a thing does not exist.

You're a little late to the game and entirely missing the point of the conversation. I didn't state as a fact that a premiership team plays on the stuff, but rather stated that the fact that high level soccer is played on it is crap.