Toxic Substances...
Pressure Treated Wood...

   Over 90 percent of all outdoor wooden structures in the United States are made with arsenic-treated lumber. In nationwide tests, dangerous levels of arsenic were found on the surface of "pressure treated" wood purchased at The Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse. The aresenic is a key ingredient in a pesticide called Chromated Copper Arsenate, or CCA. Arsenic is poisonous and a known carcinogen. In fact, Arsenic is on EPA's very short list of chemicals known without question to cause cancer in humans.

   Exposure to pressure treated wood can cause: lung cancer, bladder cancer, skin cancer, kidney cancer, prostate cancer, cancer in the nasal passages, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and possibly death. The standard formulation of CCA used in wood is 22 percent arsenic. In our national testing program unsafe amounts of arsenic were easily wiped off the surface of all treated wood purchased from Home Depot and Lowe's stores in 13 metro areas.

   Every other use of arsenic as a pesticide is banned by the EPA. Somehow, a special special federal exemption was given to the wood industry, and millions of pounds of CCA per year are injected into wood that is then sold to families all across the country. CCA is not only poisonous to pests, but also to children. Arsenic sticks to children's hands when they play on treated wood, and is absorbed through the skin and ingested when they put their hands in their mouths. Our test was designed to mimic a small child's hand coming into routine contact with the wood surface, and involves swiping the wood with a slightly moistened polyester wipe, then testing the wipe for arsenic.

   The following recommendations can help protect children, pets and others from possible arsenic exposure:

1) Arsenic treated lumber is unsafe, particularly for children, and The Home Depot, Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, and all other retailers should stop selling it. These retailers, many of whom tout their environmental responsibility, continue to sell a product that exposes American families to high levels of arsenic, a known carcinogen.

2)We urge consumers to demand alternatives when they visit their local home improvement centers. Safe alternatives are plentiful, from wood treated with less toxic preservatives, to cedar which resists rotting naturally, to other materials like recycled plastics or metal.

3) EPA must ban arsenic-containing pesticides for sale as a wood treatment pesticide, and the CPSC must ban all consumer products made with wood preserved with arsenic-containing pesticides.

4) Homeowners should replace their arsenic treated decks, swing sets and picnic tables with safe alternatives. If the structures are not replaced, homeowners should seal the wood at least once a year. Anyone who contacts arsenic treated wood should wash their hands afterwards, particularly before eating. Children's toys should not be stored under decks, because arsenic leaches off the wood when it rains and could coat the toys. Parents and pet owners should keep children and animals away from the dirt beneath and immediately surrounding arsenic treated wood structures. Arsenic treated picnic tables should be avoided, but if used should be covered with a table cloth.

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