EPA assessing risk of treated wood

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EPA assessing risk of treated wood

Compound used on decks, play equipment contains toxic arsenic

10/24/2001

By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News

The stuff that makes pressure-treated lumber resist moisture, rot, and bugs

is under pressure itself for its possible risk to children.

Health experts are meeting this week to advise the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency about the risk from chromated copper arsenate, or CCA -

the compound in virtually all the pressure-treated lumber in decks, wooden

playground equipment and other outdoor structures.

The EPA is preparing a risk assessment - a formal health report - that could

lead to new limits, an outright ban or no new action on CCA. The EPA

regulates CCA, which contains arsenic, known to cause cancer and other ills.

Whatever the outcome, EPA officials say, many consumers aren't getting

safety tips on treated wood - such as how to avoid the risk from improperly

handling, cutting and using it.

An industry survey found that more than 144 million pounds of CCA was

applied to wood in the United States in 1996. CCA is 22 percent arsenic.

Environmentalists say so much of the substance gets out of the wood and onto

children's hands - especially from playground equipment - that the EPA

should ban it in favor of less-toxic chemicals or nontoxic materials.

" The risk for some of these kids is really in the danger zone, " said Jane

Houlihan of the Environmental Working Group, an organization based in

Washington, D.C., working to outlaw CCA.

The wood-treating industry says CCA is safe because not enough gets out of

the wood to cause any harm.

" CCA-treated wood, when used according to guidelines, is safe for its

intended use, " said Barbara Beck, a toxicologist who reviewed CCA risks for

the American Wood Preservers Institute, the industry's main trade group.

The last time the EPA examined wood treatments, 15 years ago, the agency

chose not to stiffen controls. Instead, it went along with an industry plan

to give consumers safety information when they buy pressure-treated wood.

Among the tips on the EPA-approved information sheet: Wear a dust mask and

goggles whenever cutting or sanding pressure-treated wood. Always wear

gloves when handling it. Don't use it in direct contact with people's or

animals' food. And don't ever burn it: Fire releases the toxins.

Many consumers have said they never got the information, either in stores'

lumber departments or at the checkout, EPA spokesman Dave Deegan said. " It

was clear that in some places that was working, and in some places it

frankly wasn't working, " he said.

The voluntary consumer-education plan " was a complete failure, " said Ms.

Houlihan, whose group has formally petitioned the EPA to ban CCA.

American Wood Preservers Institute spokesman Mel Pine conceded problems. " A

fair percentage of the time, consumers were not getting the sheets, " he

said.

This year, the industry unveiled new measures to make sure people know what

they're buying. Larger pieces will have information tags stapled to the

ends. " Caution, " the tags say - " arsenic is in the pesticide applied to this

wood. "

Industry officials will report on the plan's progress by year's end.

But even if people get the tips, Ms. Houlihan said, they're geared toward

people who build with the wood, not toward parents wondering whether the

wood is safe for children to play on.

On that point, the EPA is getting dramatically different advice.

The Environmental Working Group cites a University of Florida study that

said a child playing on a CCA-treated play set could face an additional

1-in-1,000 risk of getting cancer during his or her lifetime. That's 1,000

times higher than the 1-in-1 million risk considered acceptable for

pesticides.

Dr. Beck, the toxicologist working for the industry, said she placed the

risk as low as zero. But it could be as high as 1-in-1.5 million, she said -

still a smaller risk than the EPA's acceptable level.

The sides also spar over whether CCA-treated lumber is safe for use as

retaining walls in vegetable gardens. The industry group says it's safe in

the garden - just don't use it for cutting boards or other food-preparation

surfaces. But many organic-gardening experts, citing the presence of

arsenic, say it should never be used in gardens.

That leaves the EPA, which hopes to complete its review in 2003, about a

year to sort through conflicting evidence, the agency's Mr. Deegan said. " If

at that point we determine that we need to take action, we will, " he said.