Safety of Artificial Turf
Safety is equally as important to Royal Grass as the quality and naturalness of our artificial grass. All Royal Grass products are therefore regularly tested to ensure our artificial turf is completely safe.
The news and media often report on the safety of artificial turf. In the autumn of 2016, scientists noted that sports on artificial turf may be dangerous to health. According to the researchers, it is the rubber granules used in synthetic sports fields and not the artificial turf itself that is harmful. The rubber granules are obtained from used tires and contain high amounts of zinc, lead and other harmful substances. Artificial lawns do not contain these rubber granules and they are not used in any Royal Grass products.
How Safe is Artificial Turf by Royal Grass®?
Royal Grass never uses rubber granulate. If an infill is required, we only apply natural sand to our artificial turf.
Royal Grass has since 2003 made safety their law, creating designs that are risk free, health conscious and safe to use.
The reliability of the products have been proven excellent by testing them with the Dutch Institute TNO; the artificial grass was tested using the EN71-3 norm, one the strictest tests applied within Europe in terms of safety. The test usually is applied to check whether toys are adequately safe for children. Products may only be considered safe if the PAH level is zero and that no harmful substances are released by the toys when played with or sucked on.
In 2004, Royal Grass products met the requirements set by the EN71-3 norm, providing a comfortable margin to market the Royal Grass® brand freely and without the fear of setbacks.
Safety discussion
To maintain the reputation of safe artificial grass, the products are constantly being examined to check for quality. In 2006, Dutch scientists claimed that playing sports on artificial grass might lead to health issues caused by the use of rubber granulates made from recycled tires.
The rubber granulates, also known as infill, are spread all over the pitch to create a simulated sport field, which will, for example, ensure that a football behaves the same way as it would on a natural grass pitch. Rubber granulates however, contain high concentrations of zinc, oil and toxic substances, bound to cause health issues. For this reason, Royal Grass eliminated any use of toxic elements as infill in the artificial grass, and uses sand instead for stability purposes.
Royal Grass retested
Even if toxic elements such as rubber granulates are not used in any of the products, retesting them was still a necessity; by doing so, it can be can guaranteed with a 100% certainty that any customer using Royal Grass artificial grass will be kept from harm.
Conclusion?
The products and the components meet the strict EN71-3 norm, conveying without a doubt that Royal Grass® artificial grass is just as safe as toys.