August 26, 2024
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
70 West Hedding, East Wing, 10th Floor
San Jose, CA 95110
Public Comment to Approve Action b. Adopt Ordinance No. NS-300.988 (Version A) to ban new artificial turf on County property (Agenda Item #10 on Aug. 27)
Via email: BoardOperations@cob.sccgov.org
Dear President Ellenberg, Vice President Lee, and Supervisors,
The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter endorses the August 27, 2024 Agenda Item #10. Action b. Adopt Ordinance No. NS-300.988 (Version A) to ban new artificial turf on County property, including sports fields.
Sierra Club members and their relatives, including children and teens, participate in and appreciate the value of team sports such as soccer, volleyball, cricket, etc. played outdoors on grass or on other natural non-petroleum surfaces, such as sand in beach volleyball. The Sierra Club also supports Outdoors for All [1] and has had an Environmental Justice Policy (EJP) in place since 1993 [2]. The Sierra Club EJP specifies [2]
- The right to a clean and healthful environment for all people
- An end to pollution
- Applying the precautionary principle, defined as adopting preventative measures to address potential risks to the public or environment
Recently we’ve heard artificial turf installers and sales representatives claim that artificial turf fields are an equity and justice issue because 1) there aren’t enough soccer fields for the demand and 2) it’s possible to play more hours on plastic than on grass.
Regarding the first issue, there are many rarely used but healthy-looking grass playing fields available across cities in the South Bay. Finding them is as easy as searching “[City Name Sports Fields].” For example, there are 31 soccer fields in the City of Sunnyvale alone [6].
The Sierra Club particularly takes issue with and disagrees completely with the thinking behind the second issue.
If prioritizing hours-of-play leads to kids becoming sick, it is a false equity. In such a scenario kids have value only as players, and not as people living personal lives who should be able to exercise outdoors in a healthy environment.
Similarly, if repeated installation of artificial turf fields leads to workers becoming sick, an argument that jobs are being saved by installing plastic involves a false equity. Besides, workers can install grass fields and maintain grass fields so jobs are still available.
For example, every soccer player with whom we’ve spoken recently has mentioned how plastic turf can become hot on an already warm day, and that the heat can be enervating. This isn’t just the players' imaginations. On May 24, 2024 in Lynn, MA 11 fifth graders were taken to the hospital in the middle of a track and field event being held on artificial turf [3]. Similarly, soccer players talked about turf burn, which is an injury from sliding across sharp plastic blades. Turf burns may not be life threatening but, as Sports writer Scott Fuita explains [4]
In addition to heat, consider health harms due to repeated exposure that take longer to surface, such as cancer. In KUOW / NPR’s report on whether artificial turf can lead to cancer, they report on a soccer goalie coach’s growing list of former goalies and other athletes who have contracted cancer. “The list now includes close to 300 people, more than half of whom have a form of blood cancer.” [5]
A controversy arose when the state of Washington published Coach Griffins’ list as scientific evidence, since “a well-designed case control study” had not been performed. Scientists Rachel Massey, a senior research associate at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, and Richard Clapp, an expert on identifying cancer clusters at Boston University of Public Health, would like to conduct a well-designed scientific study focusing on the relationship of play on artificial turf to leukemia and lymphoma in young people, but Clapp acknowledged that such a study can cost millions or even tens of millions of dollars. Until that happens, Clapp advises parents and their kids to avoid artificial turf and limit their exposure as much as possible. [5]
This is exactly the sort of quandary the precautionary principle is meant to alleviate: A situation with a large and growing body of circumstantial evidence, where severe illness or death can be prevented by taking the threat seriously. This ensures a better outcome than insisting on absolute knowledge before acting, when such insistence might result in people dying.
It is also an equity issue if and when playing fields in lower income areas are provided with artificial turf when there are known health issues, for example in community fields at the Fairgrounds, while others get grass, for example professional league training teams next to the community fields.
The Sierra Club urges the Supervisors to reject false equity arguments, to acknowledge that every child and teen deserves outdoor exercise in healthy surroundings, and to pass Agenda Item #10. Action b. Adopt Ordinance No. NS-300.988 (Version A) banning new artificial turf on County property, including sports fields.
Sustainably yours,
Susan Hinton
Lead, Plastic Pollution Prevention Team
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
References
[1] 2024, https://www.sierraclub.org/outdoors-for-all
[2] 2001, https://www.sierraclub.org/policy/environmental-justice
[3] 2024 May, WHDH News in Boston, MA. 11 children taken to hospital with dehydration, overheating symptoms during athletic event in Lynn https://whdh.com/news/11-children-taken-to-hospital-with-dehydration-overheating-symptoms-during-athletic-event-in-lynn/
[4] 2024 May, Scott Fujita Sports Blog. Why Do Football Players Wear Tape On Their Arms? https://www.scottfujita.com/why-do-football-players-wear-tape-on-their-arms/
[5] 2024 February, KUOW / NPR, Does Playing Soccer on artificial turf increase cancer risk, especially in kids? https://www.kuow.org/stories/does-playing-soccer-on-artificial-turf-increase-cancer-risk-especially-in-kids
[6] 2024, Sunnyvale website (scroll to the end, page 9, to see a list of fields). https://www.sunnyvale.ca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/420/637883145586530000