A comparative study of the safety of crumb rubber infilled synthetic turf and grass has been completed and is now available.

New study validates safety of crumb rubber infill on sports fields

The Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence (Manex), San Ramon, CA, and the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability (LMAS) at the University of California, Berkeley, have announced that their comparative study of the safety of crumb rubber infilled synthetic turf and grass has been completed and is now available. According to the press release (viewable by clicking here), the study concludes that “…artificial turf containing recycled crumb rubber is quite safe and cost-effective when compared to natural turf alternatives.”


“People tend to think that products more closely derived from nature are safer and better for the environment than those that are synthetic based,” said Rachel Simon of UC Berkeley, who led the study for LMAS. “However, in many cases, synthetic materials perform better than their ‘more natural’ counterparts across the various metrics used in evaluations. This has been shown to be the case with artificial turf, which offers several distinct advantages over grass, while using materials that are already prevalent in peoples’ lives, such as recycled tires.”


The full report may be obtained by sending an email request for a copy to turfstudy@manexconsulting.com