December 1, 2023 — In an effort to conserve water, homeowners have been installing artificial turf, some even fighting their homeowners associations in order to do so.

Now, a small piece in Yahoo News says that one California city doesn’t want its residents installing fake grass.  The Millbrae City Council in California unanimously implemented measures to stop residents from installing artificial turf because the synthetic material contains dangerous “forever chemicals.”

CleanWater.org writes, “PFAS chemicals have been dubbed ‘forever chemicals’, because they are extremely persistent, lasting thousands of years. Every American tested has PFAS in their blood. That’s a problem because very small doses of PFAS increase the risk of a wide variety of health problems, including kidney and testicular cancer, liver problems, high cholesterol, and immunosuppression.”

On properties that already have artificial turf installed, the ordinance is calling for the fake grass to be replaced by January 1, 2028.  Yahoo News reports, “The state of California as a whole is looking to ban synthetic grass, with Democrats looking to pass a bill that would discourage the take-up of this once-touted lawn solution.”  The report suggests that the ban may become federal.

Rather than installing artificial turf, officials are advocating drought tolerant landscaping.