Thursday, November 5, 2015

The problem with using coconut infill on plastic grass

Credit Kathy Michaels
...Coconut infill will freeze and Gmax levels may not be safe while frozen...

This little tidbit along with additional coconut infill problems are found in the County Council's packet on artificial turf infill.  

Do any Montgomery County Councilmembers know what it means when a Gmax level is not safe
It means that the plastic surface is too hard to play on.  The risk of skull fractures is increased if the Gmax level is too high.   

If the field isn't usable when the infill is frozen, one of the claimed benefits of plastic grass is lost.  Coconut infill plastic grass fields would not be usable during periods of freezing temperatures.  

Take a look at the list of additional problems with coconut infill found on page circle 6 of this packet. 

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/cm/2015/150129/20150129_TEED1.pdf

3 comments:

  1. This is what the parents want.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 200 and above is dangerous and 150 or so is average. Above 200 is high risk for concussion. Plastic with fillers(hardened coconut infill is an example of a filler here)) are used many ways in science and industry to increase hardness of plastic., Recommendations include bi annual testing of such a surface and there are machines that need to be purchased, rented, or used by maintenance companies hired, to clean the surface on a definite schedule.. .It is negligent to put in such a surface without follow through.. This is a high maintenance field.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Clean the surface? what are you talking about? The elected Board of Education has decided there doesn't need to be any cleaning. Again, this is what the parents want.

    ReplyDelete

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