SYNTHETIC TURF

The following synthetic turf best management practices are excerpted from SFMA ’ s National BMP guide , Best Management Practices for the Sports Field Manager : A Professional Guide for Sports Field Management . The full guide , as well as a customizable BMP template , is available at https :// www . sportsfieldmanagement . org / knowledge _ center / bmps /

Synthetic turf fields can be played on essentially 24 hours a day , seven days a week , in conjunction with an appropriate field maintenance plan . They are beneficial when natural grass fields need time to recuperate after heavy use or are saturated from heavy precipitation events .

Synthetic turf fields require maintenance practices that differ from natural grass management . If a facility has both natural grass and synthetic turf fields , proper maintenance equipment will be needed to meet the needs of each type of field . Sports field managers should be well acquainted with the specifications of the synthetic turf to ensure it performs and is maintained appropriately .

REGULATORY ISSUES Stormwater management requirements and drainage issues require consultation with local regulatory authorities . Drainage regulatory requirements for

Synthetic turf installation . Photo by B . Polimer . a synthetic turf field vary from one jurisdiction to another and will depend in part on whether the synthetic turf field is considered a pervious or impervious surface . The ASBA publication Sports Fields : A Construction and Maintenance Manual includes the following information on different regulatory scenarios :

In some parts of the country , permitting authorities consider synthetic turf fields to be impervious , like asphalt . Therefore , perimeter drainage must be designed to collect and handle all water , including anything falling on the field itself .

In some jurisdictions , synthetic turf will be considered porous , and the base and compacted subgrade will be required to handle a specific amount of precipitation .

Some jurisdictions require the drainage plan handle a specific amount of stormwater , i . e ., the 10-year average precipitation , two years total precipitation or even the precipitation caused by a 100-year storm .

Other issues that may arise during the permitting process include concerns related to the following : exposure to infill materials ( e . g ., crumb rubber ); potential leaching of chemicals to the environment ; and disposal of synthetic turf components at the end of their life cycle . Crumb rubber is recycled rubber produced from scrap tires . The rubber contains a range of organic contaminants and heavy metals that can volatilize into the air and / or leach into the ground , posing a potential risk to the environment and human health . A limited number of studies have shown that the concentrations of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds in the air above synthetic turf fields are typically not higher than ambient concentrations , while the concentrations of heavy metals and organic contaminants in the field drainage is generally below regulatory limits ( Cheng et al , 2014 ). Human health risk assessments indicate that athletes playing on synthetic turf fields with crumb rubber infill do not face any health risks ( Pronk et al ., 2020 ) and that exposure to the components of crumb rubber do not exceed EPA guidelines ( Perkins et al .,

28 SportsField Management | April 2023 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com