Picture this: You wake up one morning and walk to your local soccer field. No sprinklers are going off. Every blade of grass is now artificial, now part of the turf carpet that almost every field sport player despises. Though some may argue that artificial turf is easier to maintain than grass, it is important to observe the drawbacks of it.

Installing artificial turf saves water, which is important for our drought ridden environment here in California, but produces a larger carbon footprint than planting a natural grass field. According to a study done by the Athena Institute, a person must plant 1,861 conifer trees, or about six acres of forest, in order to offset the amount of carbon emissions produced by artificial turf. Natural turf, on the other hand, does not need a carbon offset because it is all real plant life. Additionally, the black pellets found on artificial turf–crumb rubber, usually made of recycled tires– are being placed into landfills over time. Rubber tires are usually not allowed into landfills, but now that they are broken up, it is easier to sneak them into the garbage heap, leaving some environmentally unfriendly surprises at your local dump.

Back to the crumb rubber — those annoying black pellets that look like a swarm of flies that trail after a soccer ball when kicked. Those rubber demons are the bane of most sports players’ existences: Strong recalls swallowing these bits of rubber after diving for a ball, Guglielmelli recounts a time she got them stuck in her braces, and I remember back in my soccer days the uncomfortable feeling of the chunks in my cleats. Not only are these black pellets tedious to get out of players’ uniforms, they are also detrimental to their health. Amy Griffin, former soccer player for the US Women’s National Team, started researching these pellets after she discovered that several goalkeepers were diagnosed with lymphoma or leukemia. She believes that these forms of blood cancer occur when the pellets–which emit harmful chemicals over time– come in contact with open wounds, a common sight when playing on artificial fields. Though the accusations are purely anecdotal, several organizations are keeping it in consideration when choosing terrain to play on.

If you attend an athletic event on a turf field, open wounds are not a rare sighting. Clarissa Guglielmelli, an experienced soccer player, recounted the time she tripped while playing on an artificial field. The aftermath was a turf burn on the side of her knee for two weeks, something she believed could have been prevented if she were on grass: “I may have been a little muddy, or gotten slightly scratched up from the dirt but not like on turf.”  Several other players I interviewed agreed; turf causes nasty burns, even while wearing longer pants. However, a lot of grass fields in the area have caused multiple injuries due to lack of maintenance. Rebecca Strong, a goalkeeper, tore her ACL at a game due to a pothole in the field. Strong still prefers real grass because she claims it hurts to dive in turf.

Another complaint overlapped in my various interviews: turf becomes unbearably hot. I stood for three hours on San Jose State’s turf field in high-ninety degree weather, and my feet were scorching, even in shoes.. At Brigham Young University in Utah, researchers documented a scorching 117 degrees on turf compared to 78 degrees on grass. Strong claims that “turf melts [her] cleats on hot days” because as a goalkeeper, she does not move much. Michele McLintock, a member of Wilcox’s girls Varsity soccer team, believes she got blisters from the heat of the turf as well. She also remarks that “when it’s really hot the turf just reflects the heat and it burns your feet through your cleats so you cannot stand still. You have to be constantly moving your feet or pour water on them.” The overwhelming heat can lead to player fatigue, cramped muscles, and heat stroke, thus deeming turf unsafe on hot days.

Not only does turf affect young players, but it also affects professionals. During the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the entire tournament was played on turf fields. Several professional soccer players, led by Abby Wambach of the US Women’s National Team, filed a lawsuit against FIFA. They claimed that the organization was discriminating against women as they would not allow them to play on any natural grass fields while the men’s World Cups have been always hosted on grass. The organization knows the harmful impact turf has on players, but the women lost the lawsuit. Regardless of the terrain this summer, the US Women’s National Team won their third World Cup– three more than the US men’s team.

Whether it is a hot summer’s day or a cloudy winter, natural grass seems to be the best choice to play on. The green carpets may look nicer, but beneath them are several health risks, environmental drawbacks, and annoying bits of rubber that get everywhere.