Surface-Water Testing Confirms FieldTurf Fields Are Not Contributing PFAS to Waterways

Results of surface-water testing at Quinnipiac University by Environmental Services, Inc. (ESI) concluded that the artificial turf fields on campus are not contributing PFAS to surrounding waterways or adversely impacting the surrounding environment.

This study focused on a common and important question: does water pick up additional PFAS after it flows past the fields? Based on three years of sampling, the answer is clear. It does not.

Sampling conducted from 2023 through 2025 found that none of the downstream surface-water results exceeded Connecticut’s Groundwater Protection Criteria for the sum of five PFAS compounds (70 ng/L). In several cases, PFAS concentrations were actually lower downstream of the fields than in rainwater or upstream samples.

Collected at multiple locations upstream and downstream of two artificial-turf athletic fields (soccer/lacrosse and baseball), all samples were analyzed by Phoenix Environmental Laboratories for 40 PFAS compounds using Draft EPA Method 1633.

Key findings:

No downstream samples exceeded Connecticut’s Groundwater Protection Criteria

• ESI concluded that none of the samples exceeded the CTDEEP threshold of 70 ng/L for the sum of five PFAS compounds (PFHpA, PFOA, PFNA, PFHxS, and PFOS). That includes every downstream location, showing PFAS were not present at elevated levels after water passed the fields.

Downstream results did not exceed drinking-water benchmarks

• While a small number of detections above drinking-water Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) appeared in rain or upstream samples, downstream samples did not exceed those benchmarks when compared against current federal MCL values. This supports the same conclusion from another angle: the fields are not adding PFAS to the watershed.

Upstream concentrations were consistently higher than downstream

• Across all three years of sampling, upstream samples (before water reached the fields) showed higher PFAS concentrations than downstream samples. In many cases, downstream results were lower than both rainwater inputs and upstream readings.

Overall, the results show the fields were not contributing PFAS to surface water, consistent with ESI’s conclusion that the playing surfaces were not creating a discharge that could adversely impact the surrounding environment.