artificial grass heats up quickly because it absorbs more incoming solar radiation

Unlike natural turf, which stays cool in the sun, artificial grass heats up quickly because it absorbs more incoming solar radiation.

“It’s a material that, like polished metal slides, can cause severe burn injuries,” says Sebastian Pfautsch, an associate professor of urban management and planning at Western Sydney University. His research has shown that synthetic turf in playgrounds can heat up to temperatures greater than 80C, even when the ambient temperature is less than 30C.
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In 2020, a Perth childcare centre was fined $15,000 after three toddlers sustained second-degree burns from walking on synthetic turf in bare feet.

Synthetic grass stays cooler if shaded, Pfautsch says, adding there are now newer materials on the market that can remain at cooler temperatures if the surface is watered – but that this negates the water conservation advantage that synthetic grass has over natural turf.

Artificial turf contains toxic chemicals including PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’.
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Fake grass does have its advantages, including the ability to withstand a high usage intensity, typically estimated to be about 60 hours a week.

“The science around natural turf fields have significantly increased in the past decade, which has resulted in many fields being upgraded to cope with 30 hours a week, through better drainage, irrigation and soil science,” says Martin Sheppard, chair of the playing surfaces expert circle of the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities.

“There are a lot of environmental groups who are very keen to stay away from synthetic technology and have all natural fields, and in an ideal world most football codes would like that.”

But with increasing community demand and more extreme weather, he believes limited use of synthetic fields should be considered. “From all the research we’ve done on the number of fields that are out there and fields that are planned, I wouldn’t expect in the next 10 years to have more than 2% of sports fields around Australia to be synthetic.”

An advantage of synthetic fields, according to Sheppard, is “a consistency of play across the whole year. It doesn’t get worn out during the year as it does with heavy usage, with poor weather.”