EPA rejects wood preservative for playgrounds, decks

Greenwire, Lauren Morello
Published January 9, 2007

U.S. EPA denied an industry request yesterday to allow use of a chromium-based wood preservative in lumber for playgrounds and decks. The agency rejected the Forest Products Research Laboratory's petition to treat lumber for residential use with the chemical, acid copper chromate (ACC). The preservative contains hexavalent chromium (chromium 6), which is carcinogenic when inhaled and a skin irritant. ACC-treated wood poses a cancer risk to workers who would treat and manufacture the lumber and other health risks to homeowners, children and contractors, EPA said yesterday in a statement outlining its decision. According to the agency, there are at least eight alternative chemicals to ACC, with amine copper quat (ACQ) the most widely used. ACC-treated lumber is approved for non-residential uses, which include railroad ties and telephone poles, said EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood. EPA's decision came as a surprise to environmental groups following the issue, said Richard Wiles, executive director of the Environmental Working Group. In a letter last week to EPA, Wiles' group expressed displeasure at what it said was the agency's likely approval of the ACC petition. "I think the agency was under a lot of political pressure [to approve the industry petition] from the White House and from some high-priced lobbyists," such as former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), Wiles said, explaining his surprise. EPA's decision also drew praise from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the Superfund and Environmental Health Subcommittee, who said in a statement yesterday that EPA "has done the right thing." Industry groups have 30 days to appeal the EPA decision before it is finalized.