Target Technologies International Inc. presented Futrfill TPE as a substitute to traditional infills to North America 3 years ago.
Based off the growing trend towards more rigorous environmental, health, and safety concerns within the industry, John B. Giraud, Managing Director of Target Technologies, felt it was the proper time to introduce Futrfill as a sound infill choice for today’s environmentally and safety conscious world.
Over the past few years, Futrfill has gone through rigorous chemical and environmental testing. Futrfill is non-toxic. Futrfill does not contain any of the 900 listed chemicals under Prop 65 in the State of California. It does not contain any heavy metals, phthalates, BPA, or leach out any toxic chemicals when exposed to field level conditions. On top of the published testing, early adopters of a more health and environmentally safe approach to infill did their own research to back up the different independent labs’ results. These include:
- LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) in Southern California, through their own investigations and submittals from Target Technologies, have recently approved the use of Futrfill for their synthetic fields.
- Fairfax County of Virginia wanted an infill that would not leach unwanted chemicals into their drinking water. Recently they published to their community their infill of choice was Futrfill. https://LeagueAthletics.com/Default.asp?org=greatfallslacrosse.com#263893
- NYSCA (New York School Construction Authority) intensely reviewed the safety and environmental aspects of Futrfill. The three main concerns of NYSCA from the outset was that they wanted an infill that was physically safe for the athlete, toxically safe from a health standpoint, and environmentally safe so as not to leach out harmful chemicals through water contact into storm water of off-gassing into the air above the field. Since then, Futrfill has been successfully used on their synthetic turf fields. Based on extensive real world testing over the past few years, Futrfill has been able to meet and exceed NYSCA’s health and safety goals.
Felix Compounds in Montreal, which has appointed Target Technologies as their exclusive distributor, produces Futrfill under strict ISO 9001 standards. These standards have very tightly controlled procedures from acceptance of raw materials, review of every stage of production all the way through to final product testing prior to sending out to new fields. Futrfill is the only TPE alternative infill that is currently being produced in North America.
Futrfill quality, safety, and long term stability is also guaranteed because unlike many of the synthetic infills which are produced overseas, Futrfill base compound is made from a specially chosen TPE (the same base polymers that are used in many food contact and medical applications) and fillers that are safe to the public rather than utilizing untested or unknown recycled polymers, cheap virgin polymers and a heavy dosage of other fillers. It is extruded into our specific shaped infill pellets to maximize the longevity when in place and keep the dust down, unlike other TPE’s, or other infills that are shredded or ground. All of these steps are done to ensure not only the safety, the quality, and ‘lot to lot’ consistency of Futrfill, but to allow for Futrfill to be recycled at the end of field life.
Ever more stringent demands on performance and safety have caused a shift in the way infills must perform in synthetic sports fields, parks and recreation applications, and in residential use. These same demands also weigh heavy on those who must choose which infill they want to use, and the long term consequences of that choice. Target Technologies’ Futrfill has been designed, produced, and exhaustively tested to exceed the current child and player safety requirements set out by the industry, protect the environment, ensure longevity of the playing surface, and mitigate the risks for those who have to make that decision. For those who understand the difference, Futrfill is the future.
For more information and extensive test data, please refer to our website www.ttiionline.com.