What Is the Black Stuff in Artificial Turf?

Rubber Pellets

• When you play on or carefully inspect FieldTurf, it’s easy to notice a number of small, black pellets that sit below the surface of the synthetic grass. These black pellets are loose, and as you run on the FieldTurf, your feet will flip them up into the air. The pellets are made of cryogenic rubber and are a vital part of the infill structure of FieldTurf. The rubber pellets used in FieldTurf are environmentally friendly. They are produced from recycled tires that are frozen through a cryogenic process. While frozen, the tires are broken into the small pellets that will eventually end up in the FieldTurf.

Infill

• The rubber pellets make up only 30 percent of FieldTurf’s infill weight. While the synthetic grass is firmly attached to the mat, the rubber pellets and silica sand sit loosely below the surface of the grass. The silica sand makes up 70 percent of the turf’s infill weight. When installing FieldTurf, the installers distribute 14 passes of sand and rubber onto the grass. The size of the infill allows it to stay somewhat suspended in the grass for cushioning purposes.

FieldTurf vs. AstroTurf

• In the 1980s, AstroTurf was common in many sports stadiums. AstroTurf has essentially no flexibility or cushionlike qualities, and as a result, many athletes blamed it for causing damage to their joints. Because FieldTurf's infill consists of several layers of sand and rubber pellets below the surface of the synthetic grass, playing on this surface feels soft and does not cause excessive joint pain.

Safety

• FieldTurf calls its product the safest turf option for sports and even says it’s safer than natural grass. One of the risks of natural grass is that an athlete’s cleats can get caught in the dirt beneath the grass, causing knee injuries. On the FieldTurf website, the company cites the results of a three-year college football study, stating that when FieldTurf is the playing surface, muscle tears in athletes decrease 74 percent and ligament tears decrease 32 percent.