Why Artificial Turf in Pacific Palisades is the Wrong Choice for our Playing Fields

Our community is concerned with post-fire air and ground toxicity, but many are neglecting one crucial thing.

As we begin to rebuild, an ironic and dangerous proposal has emerged: covering our children’s playing fields with artificial turf —a plastic product laced with toxic chemicals. At a moment when we are worried about contamination in our soil and air, the idea of importing and installing new sources of toxins into the very ground where our children play is simply unthinkable.

Our Past Work and Warnings

Resilient Palisades has been raising awareness about artificial turf for years. In our Green Tips series with the Palisadian-Post, we documented the many harms of plastic grass:

• Release of PFAS “forever chemicals,” lead, and microplastics.

• Increased player injuries, burns, and heat stress.

• Turf surfaces (even those without tire crumb infill) that reach 160–180°F, hotter than asphalt.

• Failure to deliver water savings, since turf still requires watering for cooling and cleaning.

• Runoff that carries toxins into our storm drains and ultimately the ocean.

We warned about these dangers before the fire, and the fire itself underscored our concerns. Many of us witnessed plastic grass melt into toxic waste in the flames. That plastic is now part of our soil and air pollution burden. To propose installing more of it in our community is to repeat the same mistake, this time knowingly.

The Stormwater Opportunity at Potrero Canyon

The Palisades Recreation Center sits at the top of Potrero Canyon—a natural watershed with the potential to capture more than 1.5 million gallons of stormwater. Right now, that water rushes through our park, untreated, and ends up in the ocean.

Living Infrastructure Field Kit

Artificial turf would make this problem worse. Plastic grass is an impervious surface: it blocks infiltration, prevents aquifer recharge, and accelerates polluted runoff. Even artificial turf that claims to allow water to filtrate through pollutes our watershed and ocean with microplastics that will never break down from the turf. Natural turf and native groundcovers, on the other hand, absorb and filter water, turning stormwater from a liability into a resource.

Health and Safety Risks for Our Children

Artificial turf isn’t just plastic. Most fields are filled with crumb rubber—tiny black pellets made from shredded used tires. Independent testing has found more than 300 chemicals in this material, including heavy metals like lead and cadmium, cancer-causing PAHs, andhormone-disrupting PFAS. These pellets don’t stay put: they cling to skin and clothes, wash into storm drains, and blow into the air we breathe. Children inevitably ingest or inhale some of them every time they play.

Some newer products claim to be “infill-free” or to use “alternative infills.” But removing the rubber doesn’t remove the risks. The plastic blades and backing themselves contain PFAS, phthalates, and other petrochemical additives that shed microplastics, toxins, and still block stormwater from reaching the soil. Whether filled with rubber, cork, sand, or nothing at all, artificial turf is still a toxic, plastic carpet laid over living soil.

Pediatric environmental health experts, including Mount Sinai’s Children’s Environmental Health Center, strongly advise against artificial turf because of:

• Cancer risks from carcinogens in turf infill

• Reproductive harm and developmental impacts linked to PFAS.

• Injury risks from hardened soil and unforgiving surfaces beneath turf.

Professional athletes—from Major League Baseball to the U.S. Soccer Federation—are demanding natural grass for their own safety. Why should our children play on something less safe?

The Better Alternatives

We don’t need to choose between unsafe plastics and dusty, degraded fields. There are proven, beautiful alternatives:

• California native grasses like Phyla nodiflora, Carex praegracilis, Festuca rubra, Agrostis pallens, and Aristida purpurea thrive in our climate, reduce water use, and support biodiversity.

• Organically managed natural turf fields that stay cooler, safer, and more resilient.

• Blended solutions with permeable surfaces, native landscaping, and smart stormwater design that protect our watershed while creating vibrant community green space.

These options restore soil health, capture water, host butterflies and birds, and provide safe, multipurpose community space for everything from baseball games to family picnics and outdoor movie nights.

Rebuild Smarter, Not with Plastic

Artificial turf is not a solution—it is a toxic, short-term patch that will cost us dearly in health, safety, and environmental resilience. As we rebuild after the fire, we have a rare opportunity to do it right: to restore living systems, safeguard our children, and protect our watershed and ocean.

Resilient Palisades urges the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, our community partners, and all neighbors to choose natural, regenerative solutions for our playing fields.

Let’s not rebuild with plastic waste. Let's rebuild with life. Keep artificial turf out of Pacific Palisades.