Santa Clara County considers artificial turf ban

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Santa Clara County supervisors on Tuesday decided to delay the issue of banning artificial turf, which would mostly affect youth athletic fields, until January.  

Earlier this year, the supervisors asked for a public health study to see if turf is too dangerous to use.

At a board meeting two weeks ago, several people came out to speak about the proposed ban, which has also been supported by the Santa Clara Medical Association. 

"I'm a longtime soccer mom," one woman said at the meeting. "I advocate for youth sports, but I, along with many other soccer families, do not advocate for artificial grass, for obvious reasons. It's plastic. It's uncomfortable. It's dangerously hot." 

According to a health review by the health department, artificial turf can be linked to some potential dangers, but there is no hard case for or against its usage.

For example, researchers say turf does get much hotter than natural grass, but they can't conclude that the difference in heat contributes more to injuries or illness.

There is also a concern about PFAs, or "forever chemicals" in the turf that have been linked to cancer.

The review says most turf does contain these chemicals, but it is not clear to what extent using the turf causes meaningful human exposure to those chemicals.

There are those who support turf as well, arguing that it is cheaper and easier to maintain than natural grass.