紐時賞析／人工草坪球場席捲全美

Plastic Turf Fields Are Taking Over America

人工草坪球場席捲全美

Across the country, cities and towns are replacing grass fields with synthetic turf, a change that is driven by youth sports teams eager for more year-round playing spaces and the multibillion-dollar turf industry working to convince communities that plastic fields are better than natural ones.

在全美各地，城市與城鎮正紛紛將天然草地球場換成人造草皮。這股變化的推動力來自於渴望全年都有比賽空間的青少年運動隊伍，以及多達數十億美元規模的人造草皮產業，它們正努力說服各地社區：塑膠草皮優於天然草地。

Many local officials, at the urging of families involved in youth sports, say turf fields can easily be played on after it rains and don’t need to be mowed or reseeded.

在有參與青少年體育活動家庭的敦促下，許多當地官員表示，人造草坪場地在雨後可以輕鬆使用，且不需要修剪和重新播種。

But some residents, environmentalists and coaches are pushing back, claiming turf — which is made of plastic blades that mimic the look of grass and often sit on a layer of crumb rubber — is expensive to maintain, is vulnerable to flooding and exposes children to harmful chemicals and hotter temperatures.

然而，一些居民、環保人士與教練則提出反對，主張人造草皮—由模仿草地外觀的塑膠草葉製成，底層常鋪設橡膠顆粒—不僅維護成本高，易受淹水影響，還可能讓兒童暴露於有害化學物質與更高的地表溫度中。

The debate over whether to install turf over grass fields has become a referendum on sports, health, the environment and the use of scarce public resources. In 2022, Boston effectively banned the installation of artificial turf, and municipalities in California, Connecticut and elsewhere have followed suit.

是否在草地球場上鋪設人造草皮的爭論，已成爲關於運動、健康、環境以及有限公共資源使用方式的公投議題。2022年，波士頓實質上禁止新建人工草皮球場，加州、康乃狄克州及其他地區的市政當局也紛紛跟進。

The rift has been particularly intense in Ridgewood, New Jersey, community of 26,000 residents about 15 miles west of Manhattan. Disputes over turf have spilled onto local blogs and into public meetings, where some of the village’s powerful youth sports leagues — there are at least 10 — have lobbied for replacing grass fields at schools and parks with synthetic turf to give their athletes more chances to play, rain or shine.

在新澤西州里奇伍德鎮，分歧尤爲激烈。該鎮距離曼哈頓約15英里，人口約2.6萬。關於人造草皮的爭執已蔓延至當地部落格與公開會議，一些鎮內影響力雄厚的青少年運動聯盟，至少有10個，正大力遊說將學校與公園的草地球場改成人造草皮，讓他們的選手無論晴雨都能多一些出賽機會。

Scientists have presented their findings about the chemicals in the fields to village officials.

科學家已將他們關於球場化學成分的研究結果呈交鎮政府官員。

In 2023, about 1,500 large turf fields were installed in the United States, bringing the total to around 19,000 fields nationwide, according to AMI Plastics, an industry data organization.

產業數據機構AMI Plastics指出，全美在2023年鋪設了約1500座大型人造草坪運動場，讓全國人造草坪運動場總數增加至1萬9000座。

New Jersey has been a focus for the industry. FieldTurf, which has installed fields in Ridgewood, called the state the “FieldTurf Capital of America.” In 2020, the company said its fields in New Jersey covered more than 5,500 hectares —“enough to surface all of Central Park, twice!”

新紐澤西州一直是該產業的重點市場。曾在裡奇伍德鋪設球場的FieldTurf公司，稱該州爲「美國的人造草皮之都」。2020年，該公司表示，光是在新澤西州，他們鋪設的人造草皮面積超過5500公頃—「足以覆蓋整整2座中央公園！」

文／Ken Belson and Hiroko Tabuchi　譯／羅方妤

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