Home turf: Are Hong Kong’s artificial turf pitches safe?

In a city as modern as Hong Kong, one must make a honest effort to remain active in order to maintain their physical health. Putting in crazy hours at the office can seem to drain our energy and keep us living a sedentary lifestyle once we get home. Oftentimes we sit in an office chair all day to then feel like we only have enough vigor to catch up on our favorite TV shows on the couch at home, or meet friends for a couple drinks in the evening. This all adds up to a spiral of low energy living that can lead expanding waistlines, as well as lower quality of mental and physical health in general. In some cases, ignoring our physical activity can even lead to more serious health problems or even depression. This is why it is so important to make use of the outdoor areas, sports centres, and other facilities that Hong Kong has to offer. However, one such type of spot in Hong Kong, artificial turf sports pitches, have recently come under scrutiny in Hong Kong over safety issues, while others worldwide have been criticizing this surface for many years.

Is artificial turf creating more injuries for Hong Kong athletes? Does the city have an issue with toxic pitches? And what can you do to mitigate any potential dangers? Here, Pacific Prime provides you with answers.

The toxicity of our city

In December of 2016, news reports began to surface about concerns over some artificial turf pitches in Hong Kong being toxic to the point that they might be a danger to those that used them. This is in addition to worries that already have existed about such fields that particles can be inhaled and cause allergies. There was quite a bit of worry that the fields in question contained chemicals that are known to be potentially cancer-causing. In fact, five different pitches were shut down as tests were run to see if a combination of six different toxic chemicals were at unsafe levels.

Since then, the tests found that the fine rubber granules that are found on the pitches did not present a significant threat to the health and safety of the public, and the pitches have been re-opened. However, there are still those that remain unsure that the safety concerns related to the artificial turf can now be written off. Dr. Karen Mak, a biochemist at University of Hong Kong, even commented to the press that there may still be a health risk imposed by the substances used in the creation of the turf, and alluded that the Hong Kong government may want to develop its own standards for the toxicity of such products. At this time the city points to standards established by the European Union.

Injury prone on the pitch

Outside of this toxin scare, there is still plenty of reason to be concerned about your physical wellbeing when you are playing on artificial turf sports grounds. Most commonly, these manifest themselves in the form of injuries to bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and more, as contacting other players, the field itself or merely planting your foot in an awkward way can sometimes lead to a trip to the hospital.

Now, to be fair, this is a highly contested notion, but many people, including many top athletes, believe that artificial turf leads to more injuries than playing on a grass field. Many prominent official sports organizations –such as FIFA – on the other hand, state their belief that artificial turf does not raise the risk of injury by any substantial measure, which is a stance that has been, for the most part, supported by available scientific research. This, however, is only true of modern fields, as previous iterations of the artificial turf used today had actually been shown to increase sports injuries when compared to grass surfaces as recently as the 1990s.

Not all the science has reached this conclusion, though. In 2013 the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons published a review that stated that, “Despite the increased popularity of third-generation artificial turf fields, the effect of this playing surface on athlete health and injury rates has yet to be fully elucidated,” suggesting that the impacts of the surface may have yet to fully be realized. This conclusion was likely reached as results seem to vary depending on the type of activity being engaged in. For instance a 2014 review found that anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in American football – a contact sport – seemed to increase on artificial turf, while this was not true of a non-contact sport like soccer.

Addressing artificial turf risks

While some of the reports of dangerous artificial turf may be overblown, clearly concerns over safety are not without some merit. So if you are concerned about getting injured on the pitch, what should you do? Well, those at risk or with previous injuries to their knees or ankles would do well to make sure they wear the proper braces to support affected body parts, take time to stretch properly before engaging in athletics, and be sure to stay hydrated.

Additionally, having a comprehensive insurance plan in place can go a long way towards addressing costs from sports injuries, especially since it is not uncommon to need surgery to properly heal sports injuries like ligament and tendon tears. What’s more, after the United States, Hong Kong has the most expensive private healthcare costs in the world, and while the city’s private hospitals can provide top notch medical care in a quick and efficient manner, costs can become burdensome.

If you play sports in Hong Kong, or are just looking for high quality medical insurance that you can use worldwide, contact the insurance experts at Pacific Prime Hong Kong! Our agents are standing by to provide you with a comparison of plans from numerous insurance companies, as well as a free price quote.