According to a recent report from the Philadelphia Inquirer, there may be a link between the AstroTurf at Veterans Stadium — the former home of the Philadelphia Phillies — and six former players who died of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, before their 60th birthdays.
The Inquirer says it obtained pieces of the turf from Veterans Stadium from 1977 to 1981 and sought testing from Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories Environmental Testing.
Tests found the turf contained 16 different types of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Researchers at the University of Notre Dame tested additional samples of the stadium’s turf and also found the chemicals.
The Inquirer‘s report says, according to experts, there isn’t sufficient data to fully understand the potential risks of coming in repeated contact with PFAS on a playing surface and that there have been no studies linking so-called forever chemicals to brain cancer.
However, the report states that international studies have found PFAS chemicals in the human brain, including in tumors.