2023-10-17 20:15:38
Artificial grass has become very popular as a more practical option to natural grass in sports fields, gardens and others. But is it really better to use artificial grass than natural grass? In a recent study, answers to that and other questions have been sought.
In the European Union, between 1,200 and 1,400 artificial grass sports fields are installed each year, a material that simulates natural grass through the use of synthetic fibers, mainly plastic. Now, a study by the Consolidated Research Group in Marine Geosciences of the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the University of Barcelona (UB) has characterized and quantified, for the first time, the presence of remains of artificial grass in samples collected in surface waters. of the Catalan coast and the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, in Spain. The results show significant quantities of plastic originating from artificial grass: they amount to 15% of plastics more than 5 millimeters in length that float in the aquatic environment.
«The plastic fibers we have found are mainly polyethylene and polypropylene, which coincide with current trends in global production of artificial grass and are normally found floating in the aquatic environment. We have found these fibers especially in areas near the coast of large cities, such as Barcelona,” explains William P. de Haan, UB researcher and co-author of the study.
As the authors of the study argue, it clearly indicates that artificial grass fibers are an important source of plastics in the aquatic environment. The study also offers a detailed guide to identify this class of plastics in future studies, with the aim of better understanding their distribution and the specific impacts they may have on the environment.
UB researchers Miquel Canals, Oriol Uviedo and Anna Sanchez-Vidal, study coordinator, also participated in the study. Likewise, it is signed by Rocío Quintana and Andrés Cózar, from the University of Cádiz, and César Vilas, from the Andalusian Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries, Food and Ecological Production Research and Training (IFAPA), in Spain.
The researchers analyzed 217 water samples collected on the coast of Barcelona and 200 from the Guadalquivir River, and found artificial grass fibers in most of the samples collected at sea (62%) and in a significant proportion of those obtained in the river (37%). The concentrations found are, on average, 50 times higher on the sea surface than in river waters. Concentrations of more than 200,000 fibers per square kilometer are reached on the sea surface and up to 20,000 fibers per day in river waters.
These differences could be due, according to the researchers, to a lower retention of plastics in rivers – especially during seasonal rains – and to the long-term accumulation of artificial grass fibers on the marine surface of the coastal area, where the Plastics released years or decades ago are retained before reaching the open sea.
The researchers also emphasize that, although the results have been obtained in specific geographical areas, “it is foreseeable that other cities will also provide artificial grass fibers, but the amount that is released into the environment depends on many factors, such as now the typology , the use and age of the artificial grass fields or surfaces, the total surface area installed and the prevention measures implemented.
A guide to identify this material in the aquatic environment
Given these results, the researchers are “surprised at the ubiquity of this type of pollution and that at the same time it has gone unnoticed in studies that quantify and characterize plastics in the aquatic environment.” In this sense, they point out that, in previous studies, artificial grass fibers “could have been confused with plant remains or fishing filaments.”
To improve the classification of this material, all the information obtained in the research has been compiled on a website that serves as a simple guide to identify artificial grass in the aquatic environment, as it shows examples of its characteristics (colors, materials, shapes, etc. ) of the remains found during the investigation.
A serious environmental impact
The environmental repercussions detected with this research are, for the researchers, “multiple and very serious”, since they further amplify the impact of this material on the environment. «Our study has served to determine that, apart from reducing urban biodiversity, reducing runoff, overheating (up to 50 degrees Celsius more than natural surfaces) and containing a large amount of harmful chemical compounds that give it durability, artificial grass surfaces they release plastic fragments into the aquatic environment,” explains Anna Sanchez-Vidal.
These plastics are ingested by aquatic animals and cause “the blockage of intestinal tracts and a decrease in growth and reproduction rates, among other important problems,” recalls the researcher.
Promotion of political measures
Faced with this situation, Anna Sanchez-Vidal highlights the importance of taking political and management measures. «If we want to end plastic pollution in the oceans (in just over a year, the United Nations must approve the global and binding agreement that should allow us to end plastic pollution in 2040), it is necessary to act at all levels, starting by rethinking the installation of these green plastic surfaces on public surfaces, such as schoolyards or sports fields, and private surfaces, such as music festivals, gyms, private gardens or terraces,” he emphasizes.
Researchers from the Marine Geosciences Research Group of the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the UB Oriol Uviedo, Arantxa Estrada, Montse Guart, Liam de Haan (standing) and Carla Martínez and Anna Sanchez-Vidal (sitting). (Photo: University of Barcelona. CC BY)
Evaluating pollution on the coast of Barcelona since 2014
This research has been developed within the framework of the TRACE projects, funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain and the European Union, and Surfing for Science. In this citizen science project, funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), groups of volunteers carry out sampling using a special net that is hooked to stand-up paddleboards or similar boats.
Since 2014, the Marine Geosciences Research Group has repeatedly analyzed samples of microplastics—plastics less than 5 millimeters—that float off the Catalan coast. «This time series of almost a decade is what should help us determine, for example, if the increase in global plastic production (in recent years it has increased by around ten million tons per year) is evidenced by an increase in the concentration of floating plastic near the coast,” the researchers conclude.
The new study is titled “The dark side of artificial greening: Plastic turfs as widespread pollutants of aquatic environments.” And it has been published in the academic journal Environmental Pollution. (Source: UB)
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