How Safe Are the New Artificial Turf Fields?

Shortly after the opening of the Houston Astrodome in 1965, turfgrass specialists realized the difficulty of growing natural grass indoors. The solution was the introduction of Astroturf . Astroturf was developed as a short-pile carpet with pad laid over a concrete surface. The advantage for the stadium owners was the very low maintenance costs. However, since its introduction many coaches, players and administrators have complained that artificial turf leads to a greater number of injuries. They feel that increased friction found with Astroturf type fields leads to increased knee injuries. They also feel that the hardness of the Astroturf surface causes more head injures, especially concussions. As a result, many facilities soon removed the Astroturf fields and replaced them with natural grass.