By Lauren Sivan
Until recently, my only experience with artificial turf was an awkward exchange over a co-worker's toupee. But covering Long Island's "Turf War" has now given me such a thorough background in fake playing fields, I consider myself a quasi-turf-expert! A synthetic-surface-scholar! A Man-Made-field Maven!
You get it.
Yes, much like the seat-back DVD player replaced the family sing-a-long during car rides--artificial turf is replacing natural grass fields across the country at a rapid clip. But, in case you didn't know (and haven't been watching News 12--tisk tisk), these fake fields are more hotly contested than Lindsay Lohan's sobriety.
There's so much conflicting information out there, it was tough to explain it all in 2 minutes. Different studies show different results and are done on different types of fields. To add to the confusion, the word "turf" is really an umbrella for over a hundred different products. For example, the nylon fake grass on the mini-golf course is "turf," and so is the crumb-rubber fields your kids play soccer on. But while critics are calling for more and more studies to determine the safety of these fields, local schools are in a pickle. They're trying to accommodate an exploding population of sports teams and their grass fields just can't keep up, plus they're a fortune to maintain.
Athletic Director Patrick Smith says the grass field at Smithtown West is bare, dusty and even has a sprinkler head sticking out of it--an obvious hazard for players.
Synthetic turf is solving that problem for many local schools because it's always ready to play on, needs very little maintenance and is an even surface. But growing opposition to turf is forcing many schools to hold off on installing them until more studies are done even though no study so far has shown an ill health effect from playing on turf.
Fake Field vs Chem Lawn: a no-brainer?
One thing many agree on--lawns and athletic fields treated with chemical pesticides and fertilizers pose a risk. Studies show these chemicals can be carcinogenic and may cause birth defects and neurological problems. Some schools are still treating their athletic fields with chemicals. The pulmonary speciailist we spoke to, NUMC's Dr. Ken Steier said he'd much rather see kids playing on synthetic turf (that needs no pesticides) than grass treated with these chemicals. But folks like Patti Wood, who runs Grassroots Environmental Education, are trying to educate schools on how to maintain a chemical free natural field with little maintenance, and says it can be done for less than $10,000 a year--much less than the sticker price for a synthetic field: around $800,000. But any grass-- organic or otherwise gets torn up after play.
Too Hot To Trot?
Turf gets hotter than grass. On a hot day, artificial fields can reach temperatures over 130 degrees. Turf manufacturers are working on that problem by adding silica sand to the crumb-rubber mixture. But many of these fields have to be cooled down with water cannons so athletes can play on them without overheating. The good news, says one coach we spoke to. This is Long Island and not Phoenix Arizona, so it's tough to cook kids here.
Can You Get High off Fake Grass too?
The temperature is particularly worrisome to natural grass advocates. Some believe when heated, these man-made materials like rubber and Chrysene (a carcinogen found in turf) can be inhaled. We asked Dr. Ken Steier about that one. Steier says the temperature would have to be about 500 degrees before chemicals and carcinogens could break down. Fortunately, most athletes are just playing sports on these fields, not melting them.
Crumb Rubber Redux 
Most of the Synthetic turf fields on the Island are made from polyethylene fiber (fake grass) and crushed recycled tires (fake dirt.) This crumb-rubber "dirt" is getting picked up by players and according to one study, kids are taking home about 2 teaspoons of the stuff every time they play. But crumb rubber is not new to school athletic fields. Most of the tracks are made of the same stuff. Turf manufacturers say crumb-rubber isn't just ground up old tires- it's cryogenically frozen and the metals are removed. However because the concern over the safety of crumb-rubber has grown, the Turf manufacturer we spoke to, Sprinturf says for a little extra money, they will use "virgin rubber" instead of recycled tires. It sounds sexy--and critics believe it's safer--but environmentally it doesn't do anything to combat the mountains of old tires building up in our landfills. 
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Sprinturf's Jim Kilmeade says the synthetic turf at Mitchell Field is helping preserve the grass fields by giving them time to regrow.
Where Does Old Turf go to Die?
What do you do with a football field size of plastic and rubber once it's worn out? No one's sure. Some of the old fake fields in Europe are actually rolled up like carpet and stacked on the side of the field. The industry acknowledges there's a concern here and says it's working on a system to recycle old turf fields rather than send them to landfills.
Is turf killing the Polar Bears?
Maybe. Environmentalists like Patti Smith say because natural grass sequesters carbon, it helps prevent global warming. But because synthetic turf is replacing grass--and it's made from plastic, a petroleum product--it's contributing to global warming. So along with your SUV, and plastic grocery bags, you can now feel guilty over your kids soccer field!
Cork! It's the New Crumb-Rubber.
Patti Smith did give the thumbs up to one artificial turf company called Geo Safe Play. Their turf fields are 100 percent organic and use cork and coconut husks as all natural infill material instead of rubber. Makes me wonder if all those wine corks I've been saving could be re-incarnated as new carpeting. But crumb-rubber turf makers say that stuff will never stand up to the rough use these fields see and will break down much faster than rubber. However Geo Safe Play just signed a deal for 25 new fields in New York City.
Get the Lead Out!
Throughout researching this story, I found so many conflicting studies on the safety of different types of turf, I was ready for a dirt nap! From what I can glean, many of the older turf fields made from nylon seem to be the ones to worry about. A lot of them have shown high levels of lead because of wear and tear (two fields in New Jersey were pulled up). The latest study from Center For Environmental Health shows the turf you can buy at Hardware stores to class-up your sun porch has dangerous lead levels too. The CEH is taking legal action against 15 turf manufacturers including Ace Hardware, Lowe's and Astro-Turf unless they change their product and make it safer.
Although levels of lead were found in some newer field turf, Rick Doyle, president of the Synthetic Turf Council, an industry trade group, says the lead is encapsulated in the blades (of fake grass) and does not leach out or become airborne.
So far, there's no definitive study that shows these new artificial fields pose a health risk. But critics argue the effects of playing on them won't be seen for years, even decades, and many say, no study can tell you for sure that it's 100% safe.
So, bottom line if you have a kid playing sports on turf, just treat it like any other household cleanser or toy made in China: get them to wash up afterward and for pete's sake, don't let them lick it, eat it or sniff it.
This past March, Corporal Christopher Levi returned from the battlefields of Iraq -- a wounded warrior. The 25-year-old soldier from Holbrook lost both legs and the use of his right arm when a roadside bomb hit his humvee. But he hasn't lost his will to fight. His mom, Debbie, told me that he said, "The Army issued me a new pair of legs and it's my job to use it to the best of my ability."
Nassau police told me they have a new tool in their war on drunk drivers. It's the license plate scanner mounted on the top of many highway patrol cars.
I got a good dose of patriotism this past Memorial Day, while I was onboard the USS Kearsarge. Cameraman Brandon, my intern Maria, and I, flew in a "Helo" and landed onboard the USS Kearsarge. 
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