Artificial turf is harmful to athletes, increasing their chances of injuring themselves during a game. The data shows that artificial turf is harmful to players, as shown by a study done by multiple doctors and professors stating that, “Play on synthetic turf resulted in a 16% increase in lower extremity injuries per play than that on natural turf … The higher rate of injury on synthetic turf was notably stronger when injuries were restricted to noncontact/surface contact injuries”(Mack). These two excerpts from the research clearly show how an increase in injuries has occurred due to playing on artificial turf. As a result of the data showing this increase, it would make sense to have the playing surface at both Cardinal Stadium and SPARK be replaced with natural grass to prevent students from becoming injured when the time comes for the turf to be replaced.

Providing more data, there was a study done by multiple people at Georgetown University and MedStar hospitals where they did a study at multiple colleges over 10 years and they found, “Athletes participating in competitions on artificial turf experienced PCL injuries at 2.94 times the rate as those playing on grass”(Loughran). This once again proves how artificial turf fields can cause more injuries compared to natural grass fields and that artificial turf does not benefit the athletes at all. In fact, artificial turf actually harms athletes and puts them in more harm than natural grass.

Continuing the argument against using artificial turf it can be described in how artificial turf can create issues for players. Mark Cote, the Director of Outcomes Research for Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital says, “‘A natural surface accommodates the cleat; its ability to allow the cleat to move and break free decreases built-up force trying to leave the leg,’ Cote says. ‘On a turf surface, the cleat can’t move as well, so that force has nowhere else to go, except back up the leg.’”(Turf vs. Grass Injuries). Mark Cote is essentially describing the exact way that artificial turf fields can increase the possibility of injury for athletes playing in these fields. Proving how artificial turf fields, even though less expensive and requiring less maintenance are not all positives, one of the negatives being how they can cause more injuries by having less give.

There is also a very real possibility that many artificial turfs are carcinogenic. As stated by an article written by Barbara Laker and David Gambacorta for the Philadelphia Inquirer article Risky Play stating, “many studies of artificial turf have focused on crumb rubber — tiny black pellets of shredded, recycled tires that are used as a cushioning base, and have been found to contain arsenic, benzene, cadmium and other heavy metals linked to multiple cancers”. This continues to prove how unsafe artificial turf is and how it may cause life long consequences for people both now and in the future. In order to prevent this issue people must do something about it now before it is too late and has caused more harm to people.

Finally, there have been many studies that have proven that natural grass fields are better than artificial turf fields in regards to preventing injury. A study posted by many professors and doctors in the medical field states, “The 2021 and 2022 NFL seasons of our analysis demonstrated a higher incidence rate of injuries on artificial turf surfaces compared with natural grass surfaces. In addition, the odds of injury requiring season-ending surgery were found to be significantly higher on artificial turf compared with natural grass”(Venishetty). This data continues to prove that playing on artificial turf is worse for players and creates more injuries compared to when playing on a grass field. To summarize it is fair to think that artificial turf fields harm athletes and are more likely to cause devastating injuries. In order to prevent these injuries from occurring more artificial turf fields must be replaced as soon as possible.