News Coverage
Bill would add limits on arsenic in Maine
Published April 12, 2003
Environmentalists, wood treaters and the real estate industry have been trying to reach a compromise on a bill that would phase out the use of arsenic in the pressure-treated wood used to build backyard decks, play sets and other structures around the home.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Scott Cowger, D-Hallowell, also would lead to new restrictions on disposal of the wood, which is currently burned or dumped in unlined landfills, and require home sellers to be more forthcoming about the presence of arsenic in their water supplies and around their properties.
The Natural Resources Committee is expected to vote on a comprehensive amendment Tuesday that makes major concessions to industry groups, but still pleases environmentalists.
Michael Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, said the amendment "would represent significant progress" in dealing with the public health issue of arsenic, a known carcinogen, in Maine.
"If this is adopted, as far as I know, Maine would become the first state in the country to restrict the disposal of arsenic-treated woods, so we're pretty happy with that compromise," he said.
Arsenic in backyard decks and other wood structures around the home is considered a potential cancer risk to young children who touch the wood and then put their hands in their mouths. Belliveau said studies have shown that three hours a week of contact with treated wood structures that are not regularly sealed, combined with frequent hand-to-mouth activity, is enough to be considered significant exposure.
"This would be three hours on playground equipment, entryways to homes and schools that have wood railings, picnic tables, play sets, wood decks," he said. "There's a lot of opportunities for contact with this stuff, and if they don't wash their hands in between, they're going to pick up the arsenic."
Dr. Andrew Smith, the state toxicologist, said that arsenic in pressure-treated wood in Maine households does not rise to the same level of concern as lead poisoning. And there are still some scientific uncertainties about arsenic exposure, such as how much of it is actually absorbed by the body.
Still, Smith said, "from a public-health point of view it does look like it has the potential to be a significant exposure, and it is an exposure that is largely preventable."
Parents can lower their children's exposure to arsenic through the use of alternative pressure-treated wood products, or by coating the wood once a year or so with a sealant that is not water-based.
Hal Bumby, president of Maine Wood Treaters Inc. in Mechanic Falls, is not convinced that arsenic is a potential health problem. He said Cowger's bill is unnecessary because the industry is already moving toward alternative materials.
Bumby said 70 percent of his customer base has already switched to alternatives - not because they believe arsenic is unsafe, but because of the public perception that it is. The industry made a deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to phase out the use of arsenic by Dec. 31.
"Although the product is safe, people still have a concern about arsenic," Bumby said. "There's nothing we can do about that, so rather than have our product tainted with this perception, as an industry we felt we should go forward, so that's what we're doing."
The national phaseout of arsenic-treated wood applies only to residential uses, and it allows the continued sale of the products until retailers exhaust their supplies.
Cowger's bill, supported by groups such as the American Cancer Society, the Maine People's Alliance and the Maine Public Health Association, was designed to close some of the loopholes in the national phaseout. Among other things, it bans the sale of arsenic-treated wood for both residential and commercial uses, and bans disposal methods that could contaminate groundwater or release the toxin into the air.
The bill requires home sellers to disclose the presence of arsenic in their well water or any wood structures around the home. Sellers also would be required to disclose whether the wood has been coated with a sealant during the past six months.
At 1 p.m. Tuesday, lawmakers will discuss an amendment that bans sales only for residential uses and requires the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to come up with a disposal plan by Jan. 1, 2005.
The amendment also changes the provisions regarding real estate transactions to voluntary, largely educational measures that would encourage home buyers to seal their wood structures regularly and test their water for arsenic.
The Maine Bureau of Health estimates that more than 10 percent of private wells in the state have elevated arsenic levels.
Linda Gifford, who represents the Maine Realtors Association, said that under current law, sellers already have to disclose whether or not they've had a water test, the date of the test, and whether the test uncovered any problems. The proposed legislation, she said, "seemed like an extra expense and delay."
And the disclosure requirement for pressure-treated wood, she said, "was just silly."
Gifford said the Maine Realtors Association will add information about arsenic, arsenic-treated wood and the importance of using sealants to its standard purchase-and-sale agreement. The information also will be added to a buyers' booklet that has a series of questions and answers about lead, radon and other potential hazards around the home.
"I'm somewhat skeptical of their commitment," Belliveau said, "but all things considered, we're willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they will in good faith work to educate licensees, real estate agents, buyers and sellers, and work with the Bureau of Health to get the word out."
AT A GLANCE
The Environmental Working Group recommends these 10 steps to reduce your family's exposure to arsenic from pressure-treated wood:
1. Seal the wood at least every six months with polyurethane or a penetrating oil stain. The EPA recommends sealing once a year.
2. Replace high-exposure sections such as handrails, steps or deck boards with non-arsenic alternatives.
3. Wash your hands and your children's hands after every exposure to arsenic-treated wood, especially before eating.
4. Keep children and pets away from the soil beneath and immediately surrounding arsenic-treated wood structures.
5. Cover arsenic-treated picnic tables with a tablecloth before using.
6. Do not pressure-wash to clean the surface of pressure-treated wood. Instead, use a soap-and-water solution and disposable cleaning supplies.
7. Do not allow children to play on rough wood, surfaces to avoid splinters.
8. Never sand arsenic-treated lumber.
9. Do not store toys or tools under the deck. Arsenic leaches from the wood when it rains and may coat things left there.
10. Do not use commercial "deck washing" solutions because they can convert chemicals on the wood to a more toxic form.