'Poison' wood warnings ignored

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'Poison' wood warnings ignored

Health Canada told about dangers of pressure-treated wood 12 years ago, but

did nothing.

U.S. in talks to ban arsenic-laden wood used in playgrounds

Starnes

The Ottawa Citizen

Saturday, February 02, 2002

For 12 years, Health Canada has ignored a report by its own scientists

warning it to keep children away from arsenic-laden pressure-treated wood.

The federal department knew Canada's most popular product for building

playground equipment and wooden decks steadily leaches poisonous arsenic

into the ground. Scientists told them. The industry's Institute of Treated

Wood admitted it.

" We did find it leached, " says Dieter Riedel, the Health Canada scientist

who carried out the pilot study in Ottawa parks between 1987 and 1990. " I

did make the recommendation that we keep it away from children. "

The department chose not to take his advice.

The bubbling controversy over the safety of pressure-treated wood threatened

to overflow yesterday amid intense, secret talks between the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency and the American Wood Preservers Institute.

Persistent rumours are suggesting CCA (copper, chromium, arsenate)

pressure-treated wood -- a $4-billion U.S. industry -- is about to be

outlawed.

" We are working on an agreement, " was all Bonnie Piper,a spokeswoman for the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would say. But Mel Pine, a spokesman

for the wood institute, admitted phasing out the use of copper, chromium,

and arsenate and replacing them with another chemical cocktail is " certainly

a hypothetical possibility. "

If that decision is taken it is almost certain to lead to a ban in Canada.

The Institute of Treated Wood, which represents more than 70 per cent of the

66 CCA plants in Canada, says it is not in any discussions with the

government.

But the institute is waiting nervously to see what happens south of the

border.

Henry Walthert, executive director of the institute acknowledges the U.S.

decision will have a powerful influence on what happens here and admits

Canadian manufacturers have been looking at alternatives for some years.

" We are already moving away from CCA into alternatives, " he said. " We've

been talking about it for a number of years but now there is some urgency.

We no longer have the luxury of time.

" It could be very interesting because we have no alternative chemical

product registered in Canada at present. The Americans have ACQ (alkaline,

copper, quaternary) so they have the ability to switch. Canadian

manufacturers don't. "

It takes about 18 months to register a new preservative from the time a

company applies with the Pest Management Regulatory Agency.

The gathering cloud over CCA is something Health Canada decided not to

address back in 1990 when Mr. Riedel made his recommendations.

Instead, it opted to accept a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission study

that said the product poses " no unreasonable risk to children or adults in

direct contact with wood or from contact with soil into which arsenic may

have leached. "

In 1992 the department decided to re-evaluate. Ten years later that probe --

by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency -- is still going. The latest

estimate for completion is April.

So, what's taken so long?

Marc , spokesman for the pest regulatory agency, says re-evaluation

means treating the product as if it is a brand new pesticide just coming on

the market.

" When we ask for these type of studies it will take six months to a year to

find a lab who can do them, " says Mr. . " The studies themselves take

a couple of years, then they have to be written up and submitted to the

evaluator. That does take some time. "

Others find that hard to swallow.

" Does this present a risk to human health? I won't answer that question, "

says Barry Munson, the Environment Canada expert on the subject. " Is that an

unreasonable length of time? When all is said and done, it takes too long to

do these things, and that's as much as I'll say. "

" Oh God! It has been due out and postponed so many times, " says Prof.

, a University of Toronto forestry professor who has been studying the

material since 1985. " Last I heard, it was July 2002. Then there had been

quite a flurry in the media so they are trying to push it forward a bit.

Maybe to May. "

That media flurry has been gathering force across North America and around

the world as scientists, politicians and worried individuals demand action

over a product that has swept Canada and built itself into a $750-million

industry. Last Fall, both Canada and the United States made deals with the

industry to carry warning labels on every piece of pressure-treated wood.

Pressure-treated wood is impregnated with a mixture of copper, chromium and

arsenate which acts as a proven preservative. However, there are

acknowledged dangers. The chemicals can leach into soil around structures

build with the wood, which is extremely popular for playground structures

and decks. How much leaches and how dangerous it is depends on who you ask.

Environment Canada says the product is not an environmental hazard, but it

will not comment on dangers to humans. However, it does consider it

imperative to warn the public on the best ways to use it. That is why it

imposed a deal on the industry.

" Labels will be stuck on every piece of wood, two-by-four up, " said agency

spokesman Barry Munson. " There will be green-yellow labels telling you how

to handle the stuff. It will say: Caution, arsenic is in the pesticide

applied to this wood. Never burn it, wear dust masks, goggles and gloves

when working with this product. "

Labels will also be required on store shelves on which the wood is stored

and consumer sheets will be readily available. That deal, agreed to last

September, will be fully implemented by the end of May.

Among those leading the push for a ban in Canada is Dr. Ed Napke, an

epidemiologist, former chief of Health Canada's Product Related Disease

Division and the man who introduced Canada's poison control program.

" This was my specialty, " says Dr. Napke, now retired but still active with

the Canada Standards Association and the Ottawa Council for Smoking and

Health.

" When I started the Adverse Reaction Reporting program for Health Canada, I

decided any product on the market was our responsibility if it had an effect

on our health. Adverse reactions also include poison. Had a report come my

way on CCA I would have addressed it. It did not.

" Should pressure-treated wood come off the market? Listen, knives are used

to kill people. Do you ban knives? The question is: Are there substitutes?

You don't have too many substitutes for knives in the home. But there are

substitutes for pressure-treated wood. "

But it could all prove unnecessary.

The U.S. Senate has demanded the EPA supplies it with a report on

pressure-treated wood by Feb. 15.

As the agency and the American Wood Preservers Institute continue to meet in

secret, Florida senator Bill , who has been pushing for tough

restrictions on pressure-treated wood, including a possible ban, was

demanding the environmental agency release a risk assessment.

" Arsenic is the only known human carcinogen currently in use as a pesticide,

and parents deserve to know the risk it poses to their children's health, "

Mr. said.

" A quick phaseout of arsenic treated wood is warranted and achievable. " We

know safer chemical compounds that do not contain arsenic are available and

can still protect the wood from pests and weather. "

Pressure-Treated Wood: What's Been Done Already

Canada: Environment Canada makes deal with pressure-treated wood industry to

introduce warning label system on all CCA wood. Industry agrees to foot the

bill. Pest Management Regulatory Agency has been re-evaluating CCA wood for

10 years. Could have results this April.

Ottawa: Medical officer of health alerts school boards, day-care centres,

conservation authorities and others to dangers of CCA wood. Calls on council

to review use.

Fredericton, N.B.: Parks department stops using CCA wood for playground

structures or picnic tables in its 52 parks. Switches to cedar or metal.

Halifax, N.S.: CCA wood banned for building of city playground structures,

picnic tables, benches, anywhere children may come in contact

Yarmouth, N.S.: City Parks and Recreation department stops using CCA

pressure-treated wood on beaches and park walkways.

London,Ont.: City no longer uses CCA wood on play structures or in play

areas. Cedar is used on boardwalks, although the sub-structure is made from

CCA wood.

U.S.A.: Environmental Protection Agency scientific panel calls on government

to test children to see if they were exposed to dangerous arsenic levels .

California: Senator Gloria Romero to introduce bill in state legislature

that would ban CCA wood and classify it as hazardous waste.

San Francisco: Environment Commission recommends city ban purchase of CCA

wood and seal existing playground structures.

Florida: Dozens of playgrounds closed after disturbing levels of arsenic

found around pressure-treated wood. State Gov. Jeb Bush orders state wood

treatment plant to switch from CCA to another preservative.

Connecticut: Scientific study finds soil samples under CCA-wood decks

contain, on average, 20 times more arsenic than the state's legal limit.

State warns children not to play under them.

Switzerland: CCA wood is banned.

Denmark: CCA wood is restricted.

Sweden: CCA wood is restricted.

Germany: CCA wood is restricted.

Japan: CCA wood is banned.

Indonesia: CCA wood is banned.

Australia: considering heavy restrictions on use of CCA wood

New Zealand: considering heavy restrictions on use of CCA wood

© Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen