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JU🌱I’m sitting on an artificial pitch. And I HATE it.
🌿 It may be green in colour & the argument is, it's more “practical” than traditional turf pitches, but beneath me is a surface laden with issues.
❗It's plastic & can't be recycled. It kills nature.
❗ There are hygiene issues: bacteria buildup in the plastic blades of 'grass', it's a difficult surface to sanitise & there's an increased risk of infection from turf burns.
❗ Those tiny black pellets are called tire crumb. (The ones that get stuck in your children's socks, clothes and that they inhale as they run around.) They’re made from shredded car tyres, broken down into smaller pieces, to soften impact.
❗ Tires were never designed to be played on. They contain microplastics, heavy metals and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
❗ Microplastics don’t just stay on the surface.They break down further, enter soil, waterways and air.
❗They can be inhaled, ingested and absorbed through the skin. Science now links microplastic exposure to hormonal disruption, inflammation and long-term health concerns, especially in developing bodies.
🤬
We take toxic materials.
We shred them.
We cut them into smaller pieces.
And we place them in direct, repeated contact with our children
On the fields where they run, fall, sweat and breathe.
Progress should protect health, not compromise it.
Sustainability should mean safe for people, not just convenient for budgets.
🧘🏽♀️ Sometimes the most important conversations start by simply sitting down & asking better questions.
💬 COMMENT: PLASTIC IS A PITCH if you'd like a link to a report by Professor Andrew Watterson from University of Stirling, about this.
I encourage my children to play other sports that don't require running around on AstroTurf, but it's not always possible & I definitely want them to exercise, so I make sure that they shower including washing their hair when they come home.
#Microplastics #ArtificialTurf #PlasticPollution #EnvironmentalHealth
#EndocrineDisruption HealthyChildren SustainableSport
ToxicExposure ClimateAndHealth ProtectOurChildren
EnvironmentalAwareness FutureGenerations ThinkBeforeWeBuild
JuliaBradbury NatureAndHealth
@juliabradbury
