Editor:

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department is planning to use artificial turf in the renovation of the Crocker/Amazon playing fields.

Artificial turf should never have been used in the playing fields of Golden Gate Park and it should not be used in the renovation of the Crocker/Amazon playing fields. It is toxic, pollutes the environment and poses a danger to all San Franciscans. Plastic grass continually sheds microplastics and can’t be recycled or disposed of in a landfill. 

Micro-plastic pollution is a threat to all life on the planet. (See “Microplastics in Clouds Could Be Contaminating Nearly Everything We Eat and Drink: Study” By Brett Wilkins commondreams.org, Sept. 29. 2023).

“Scientists have shown that both the grass-like blades and the backing of artificial turf contain PFAS, highly toxic fluorinated chemicals. PFAS are known as “forever chemical” since they accumulate in the body and do not break down. They have been linked to endocrine disruption and cancer. Children are especially vulnerable to harm from PFAS because of their developing bodies and the chemicals’ persistence in the body. In a recent New York Times Op Ed piece (What Are Sperm Telling Us?), we read that ‘Chemical companies are as reckless as tobacco companies were a generation ago, or as opioid manufacturers were a decade ago. Most people think manufacturers must prove that chemicals are safe before they put them on the market. They are wrong.” – Real Grass for Healthy Kids! greenwichfreepress.com, March 12, 2021.

You can see the news on the dangers of plastics in our environment most Sundays in the San Francisco Chronicle in Earthweek: Diary of a Changing World, by Steve Newman:

• “A new study (by University of Rhode Island scientists) finds the microplastic pollution that now permeates the planet can travel to the brain and cause behavioral changes.” – Week ending, Sept. 22, 2023.
• “Studies have found that microplastic pollution is accumulating not only in our arteries, but also in all 62 human placentas examined … the particles have also recently been found in human blood and breast milk, which indicates we are being exposed to the pollution on a massive scale, as are other creatures. ‘If we’re seeing effects on placentas, then all mammalian life on this planet could be impacted,’ said lead researcher Matthew Campen of the University of New Mexico.'” – week ending March 1, 2024.
• “Microplastics are crossing the blood-brain barrier and accumulating in human brains, according to a new study published in Nature Medicine.” – week ending Feb. 7, 2025.

The long-term health of our parks, playing fields and the people who play on them is not served by plastic grass and rubberized surfaces. We should use natural grass turf.  

 The Rec & Park Commission is meeting this Thursday, Feb. 19, at 10 a.m. at City Hall, room 416. The Commission will discuss artificial turf with Rec & Park officials. You can call in your comments. And if you can’t do that, email your comments to the commission by Wednesday. (recpark.commission@sfgov.org)

David Romano