Martha Marvin: Short term thinking.

Dear members of the School Committee,

I am troubled to hear that the Mt Greylock School Committee is considering installing artificial turf fields. The materials used in these fields pose problems ranging from environmental pollution to personal injury, and adopting their use is not consistent with the values of the local communities.

I’d like to share my perspective as a scientist who studies the effect of environmental toxins on developing organisms.

My research effort at Williams focuses on the effects of endocrine disruptors on cardiovascular development. I have also done workshops on water quality with Mount Greylock 8th grade students, introducing them to watershed dynamics and discussing the risks posed by microplastics in runoff. As a Williamstown taxpayer, and formerly a Mount Greylock parent, volunteer, and donor, I am discouraged to see short-term thinking overpowering concerns about the risks that these playing surfaces pose, in terms of both chemical exposures to the young players on the field, as well as environmental degradation resulting from microplastic runoff that is continuously generated by the use of these fields.

I have inspected the artificial turf fields installed at Williams College. The loose crumbled rubber infill scattered among the “blades” of artificial grass is exposed to the elements. Rubber and plastics become brittle in sunlight and fragment into smaller pieces; the impact of players on the field accelerates the process. Heavy rain will carry away small fragments into the watershed. These plastic particles are hydrophobic, meaning that oils cling to them—think of the extra soap one needs to clean a plastic versus a glass salad bowl. Unfortunately, many of the persistent environmental pollutants (POPs) are also hydrophobic and adhere to plastic: for instance, endocrine disruptors like parabens, banned but still-present pesticides like DDT, and oils like PCBs. Rubber and plastic similarly adsorb POPs due to their similar hydrophobicity.

A portion of the microplastics carrying toxins in the ocean are “virgin” pre-manufacture pellets that were never in contact with POPs prior to their spillage in the environment; they picked up POPs on their travels. Microplastic particles actually concentrate toxic POPs. The particles become toxin delivery systems as they are consumed by aquatic organisms and deliver their payload to the bodies of the animals, such as plankton, fish and seabirds. I’ve attached a very readable scientific paper that describes how toxic POPs have been found to be concentrated by plastic particles.

A decision in Williamstown to use artificial turf would have widespread effects on the health of the environment. Do we really need to ask if microplastics present an environmental hazard? It should be abundantly clear that they do. It’s irresponsible to add to the problem.

Furthermore, when the players inevitably fall and leave skin on the field, the crumbled rubber particles are driven into the wound, delivering whatever is on them into the player’s bloodstream. Because the rubber is made from milled tire waste, it is far from virgin plastic—runoff from tire dumps is a notorious source of environmental contamination.

The notion that the school committee would disregard these concerns is shocking, particularly when there is a viable alternative: natural turf. With the spectacular natural setting for the new Mount Greylock Regional School, it is a travesty to install a field of pollution-generating plastics. Well-maintained natural grass fields will be beautiful indefinitely, they are consistent with our town’s values, and they are also the most fiscally responsible option. Artificial turf is far from maintenance-free. The costs of disinfection and periodic re-filling are substantial, and require new maintenance equipment. Mount Greylock already has mowers. The lifetime of artificial fields is brief, about 10 years, when whatever is left of the plastics will be removed at taxpayer expense and go to a landfill.

This community has recently bemoaned the shortsighted decision of a school committee in the late 1950’s to build a poorly insulated, single-story slab-on-grade school building that developed “sick building syndrome”, that reached the end of its life 25 years before its demolition, and that demonstrably harmed the health of children and adults. Facing us now is a similar decision—short term savings or preserving a clean environment for the future.

Let’s not create a situation that future school committees and taxpayers will soon regret, and avoid investing in playing fields that are both environmentally hazardous and risks for liability should future health problems arise. Let’s refuse to indiscriminately spew plastics into the environment so as to save a few dollars today. We’ve built a new, healthy and safe school that will last a hundred years. Let’s stay on that track and make sure the playing fields are also a healthy environment for the youth of Williamstown and the wider world.

Sincerely,

Martha Marvin

Lecturer in Neuroscience

Williams College

this letter has been slightly edited from the original. The article mentioned will be posted soon.