Lead discovered in artificial turf at three playing fields in New Jersey can be absorbed by the body, officials said Tuesday.

Testing by the state health department showed that lead in turf fibers and dust from these fields, can be dissolved under conditions similar to that of human digestion.

The state health department has informed the federal Consumer product Safety Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the test results — and urged further investigation of artificial turf, said Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, the state epidemiologist.

“This is a national issue, not a New Jersey issue,” he said. “It’s a federal problem.”

Elevated lead levels were found in march in the turf at Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken and the College of New Jersey’s Lion Stadium field in Ewing. High lead levels were also found last summer in artificial turf at an athletic field in the Iron Bound district of Newark, state officials said.

No contamination was found among several fields in North Jersey that were among the 12 sites tested for lead in March, said Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, the state epidemiologist. The North Jersey sites required no further testing, Bresnitz said Tuesday.

The main concern raised by test results is that artificial turf could be a contributing source of lead for children who are already exposed to it, Bresnitz said.

“We don’t think that, by itself, playing on the field [that is contaminated] will necessarily lead to high levels of lead in children,” he said in an interview. “But it serves as a source of potential lead exposure that could add to lead from other sources, such as lead paint in older homes, or residential soils contaminated with lead.”

Unsafe levels of lead can harm children’s overall health and their neurological development, state Health Commissioner Heather Howard said Tuesday.

The state health department tests showed that the amount of lead from artificial turf was similar to that seen in studies of household dust and soil samples using the same testing methods, Howard said.

The turf has been replaced at all three sites where lead was detected, Bresnitz said.

Between 3,500 and 4,000 playing fields in the United States — including about 150 in New Jersey — use artificial turf, Bresnitz said. “But we don’t know for sure how many have fibers with high lead levels,” he said.

Residents should ask managers of their local playing field what kind of turf it has, and to have it tested if they don’t know what the ingredients are, Bresnitz said.

If high lead levels are suspected, the field should be wet down before use to depress dust levels, Bresnitz said. After playing on the field, people, particularly children, should wash their hands and faces, and remove their clothing to avoid inhaling or ingesting contaminants.

The most conservative approach is to prohibit young children, who are already at risk for lead exposure, from using a field that could be contaminated, he said.

Sites in North Jersey that were tested and found not to have high lead levels in artificial turf were: Van Fleet Park in Fort Lee, Memorial Park and Kennedy Park in Lodi and Memorial Park in Park Ridge.

Smithfield Park and Veteran’s Park in Parsippany in Morris County were also considered safe, as were Church Square Park and Steven’s Park in Hoboken.