To the Editor:
Thank you so much to The MV Times for voicing what the majority of the Vineyard’s residents are thinking. turf fields should not be decided by a few members of a school committee. They should also be determined by using the current scientific information. Look at this article (bit.ly/Stamfordturf) about the Stamford, Conn., Parks and Recreation Department, which not only addresses PFAS, but the other enormously toxic chemicals used in turf (plastic grass). It also addresses the temperature of the turf that they measured when it was 88°. The turf was a (quotes from the article) “whopping 155°”; “For context, human skin experiences pain at 111°, a first-degree burn at 118°, and a second-degree burn at 131°, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.”
It’s time to take another look, Hollas said. An artificial turf field contains the equivalent of 40,000 pounds of plastic, or 46 million plastic straws, or 2 million plastic bags. “Stamford and other municipalities have banned plastic bags and straws,” Hollas said. “If we’re banning straws and bags, why are we putting down this material on playing fields?”
There are many articles with scientific information about PFAS pollution. Please do some research on this. Why did Boston ban the use of artificial turf in all its recreational parks (bit.ly/BostonTurf)?
Quotes from this article: “Artificial turf is made with toxic PFAS compounds, and some is still produced with ground-up tires that can contain heavy metals, benzene, VOCs, and other carcinogens that can present a health threat. The material also emits high levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and sheds microplastics and other chemicals into waterways. ‘We already know there are toxic chemicals in the products, so why would we continue to utilize them, and have children roll around on them, when we have a safe alternative, which is natural grass?’ asked Sarah Evans, an environmental health professor for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.”
As I said before, please do your own research. There are bountiful articles on this topic. And yes, I totally agree with Evans: Why would you ever want to do something so harmful to children?
Pamela Stevens Benjamin
Vineyard Haven
