Purpose. The purpose of this moratorium is to protect Lake Massapoag,
and the Town's wetlands, rivers, streams, ponds, groundwater,
drinking water, soil, fish and wildlife, as well as human health.
Current artificial turf carpets have known environmental and health
hazards. They contain toxic chemicals, including flame retardants,
plasticizers, and PFAS, a class of synthetic compounds that includes
approximately 4,700 chemicals. PFAS are a particular health threat,
as they are highly persistent "forever chemicals" that never fully
degrade, accumulate in our bodies, and adversely impact human health
even at low levels of exposure. A new regulation promulgated by the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection establishes a
drinking water standard of 20 parts per trillion for the sum of six
specific PFAS. Thus, artificial turf installation could potentially
contaminate Lake Massapoag, rivers, streams, ponds, ground water,
soil and drinking water in the Town of Sharon by leaching chemicals.
Plastic grass blades also break off artificial turf and would be blown
by the wind to surrounding areas where they would break down into
microplastic which does not fully degrade, thereby threatening to
contaminate the nearby natural areas with PFAS, microplastics and
other chemicals. Current infill materials are also problematic: crumb
rubber from scrap tires is likely toxic, organic infill must be watered
to get it to stay in place, and can freeze, which requires the addition
of anti-freeze substances to prevent athlete falls. Artificial turf
carpets are produced from petroleum. They are also not currently recyclable
in the U.S. One facility in Pennsylvania collects turf fields for
"recycling," but only recycles the crumb rubber that is removed from
the plastic carpet. Current plastic artificial turf fields are also
not biodegradable or compostable.