When parents at Crocker/Riverside Elementary first heard about the project, the district’s announcement called it “a brand-new turf field.” That’s the kind of phrase that sounds like a routine improvement.
It isn’t. The proposed surface is a multi-layered industrial product made primarily of plastic, sitting on a synthetic shock pad, filled with crushed agricultural waste. Once you understand what’s actually being installed, the word “turf” stops doing the work it’s been doing.
This article walks through each layer of the proposed system in plain English, so you can decide for yourself whether this is what you want your child playing on for the next decade.
The product
The specific product proposed for Crocker/Riverside is FieldTurf Vertex Prime 2″ Pure Select with olive pit (olive core) infill. FieldTurf is a subsidiary of Tarkett, a multinational flooring company. Vertex Prime is one of their synthetic grass product lines. “Pure Select” refers to a specific blend of their fibers and backing.
The system is built in four layers. Here’s what each one is.
Layer 1: The fibers (the part that looks like grass)
The green “blades” are not grass. They are extruded plastic — typically polyethylene with some polypropylene blended in. They’re stitched into a synthetic backing in vertical tufts to mimic the appearance of a grass field.
What’s known about the fibers:
Independent testing by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Ecology Center in 2019 tested eight different samples of artificial turf — every one of them tested positive for fluorine, an indicator that PFAS chemicals are present Santa Monica Daily Press. PFAS — sometimes called “forever chemicals” — are used in the manufacturing process to make the plastic blades flexible enough to extrude. Industry has acknowledged that the grass blades and backing cannot be made without PFAS. Santa Monica Daily Press
PFAS are linked to cancer, hormone disruption, reproductive harm, immune effects, and developmental delays in children Westfieldcrafd, according to EPA classifications.
The infill product can be changed. The fibers can’t. PFAS exposure is a property of artificial turf itself — not of which infill you choose.
Layer 2: The backing
Underneath the fibers is a woven and coated synthetic backing — typically polyurethane-coated polyester or polypropylene. This is the structural sheet that holds the fibers in place. It also contains PFAS and adds plastic mass to the system.
The backing is what makes artificial turf, at the end of its useful life, almost impossible to recycle. Most retired turf fields are landfilled or stockpiled.
Layer 3: The shock pad
Below the backing is a synthetic shock pad — typically closed-cell foam or recycled rubber — designed to provide some impact absorption when children fall.
The shock pad is what allows the manufacturer to claim a particular “G-max” rating for safety. But shock pads degrade over time. As the system ages, falls become harder.
Layer 4: The infill (the loose material between the fibers)
This is the part the district has changed. Earlier-generation artificial turf used crumb rubber — ground-up recycled tires — as infill. Crumb rubber is now widely understood to contain heavy metals and carcinogenic compounds. Los Angeles Unified stopped building new crumb rubber fields in 2009 and removed the substance from 54 preschools after lead was discovered. Wikipedia
The infill proposed for Crocker/Riverside is crushed olive pit, sometimes called olive core. It is an agricultural byproduct — the woody pit left over from olive oil production, mechanically pulverized into small pieces.
Assistant Superintendent Chris Ralston has described olive pit infill in writing as “a new product” that he personally believes is “better than crumb rubber and cork.” That description is accurate in one sense: it is, in fact, new.
What it is not is studied. There is no independent peer-reviewed pediatric safety study of olive pit infill on artificial turf playing surfaces. The Partnership for Healthy Playing Surfaces — a research organization that catalogues turf safety data — has specifically flagged olive pit crumb for concerns related to allergies and respirable fibers.
In Sacramento specifically, this matters more than it might elsewhere. Sacramento’s Mediterranean climate produces some of the highest olive pollen sensitization rates in California. Crushed olive pit at a school where children play hours each day adds an exposure source that has not been studied in pediatric populations.
What changes when the infill changes — and what doesn’t
The district’s main public argument for this product has been that switching from crumb rubber to olive pit addresses safety concerns. It is important to be precise about what that change does and does not do.
What changing the infill addresses:
- It removes ground-up tires from the system.
- It reduces (but does not eliminate) certain heavy metal exposures associated with recycled rubber.
What changing the infill does not address:
- PFAS in the synthetic fibers — present regardless of infill.
- PFAS in the synthetic backing — present regardless of infill.
- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) off-gassed by heated synthetic carpet.
- Microplastic shedding into stormwater, soil, and the surrounding environment.
- Surface heat — artificial turf reaches the same dangerous temperatures regardless of which infill is used.
The Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute has been explicit: PFAS is a property of the synthetic carpet, not the infill. Changing the infill does not change the PFAS exposure.
How hot it gets
Independent research consistently documents artificial turf surfaces reaching 158 to 171 degrees Fahrenheit under laboratory conditions, 35 to 64 degrees higher than natural grass Ballotpedia. Some peer-reviewed studies have measured surface temperatures as high as 200°F. The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s 2025 independent study, conducted in coastal conditions far cooler than Sacramento, recorded artificial turf at 111°F when ambient air was only 82°F — compared to 86 to 89°F on grass at the same site Ballotpedia.
Sacramento regularly exceeds 100°F in late summer and early fall, exactly when school is in session. At those ambient temperatures, the proposed surface will routinely exceed 150°F. For comparison: 140°F causes second-degree burns to bare skin in about five seconds.
What this means for one school
Putting it all together: the system being installed at Crocker/Riverside Elementary is a multi-layer plastic carpet, manufactured with PFAS chemicals, filled with crushed agricultural waste that has not been studied in pediatric populations, designed to retain heat far beyond what natural grass produces, and supplied by a vendor with a documented record of selling defective products to school districts.
The district has approved this for kindergartners through sixth graders.
The Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education can still pause this project and direct staff to install natural grass with proper drainage and irrigation instead. The Board has the authority. The funding is allocated. Construction has not yet begun.
Your email to the Board is what makes them act.
Here’s some data from a Test Report for an artificial turf field in Woodland, where the Woodland Soccer Club plays. Their synthetic turf field was installed in February 2021, Sprinturf is the manufacturer and they use a sand and high density cork infill (also considered a cooler, bio-based product).
The test data was obtained on August 25, 2025 and the weather conditions that day were ‘sunny, dry and 76 degrees F’ at 10:07 am.
10 different locations on the field were tested.
The Gmax range was 117-145 (165 is the recommended safety limit).
Compare this to the Gmax range 4 years ago when it was new, which was 71-108.
The temperature range at various locations was 89-112 degrees F.
The low of 89 was taken along the sideline where the field was shaded by a nearby tree.
The rest of the field was in full sun.
The average temperature of the field was 106.6 degrees F.
Remember, this test was done at 10 am when the ambient temperature was only 76 degrees.