Lancaster man creates protective treatment for chemically treated wood
Lancaster Sunday News, Jon Rutter
Published September 29, 2001
Bob Lukowski dipped a broom into a bucket of milky-looking liquid and
swabbed the wooden boardwalk that leads to the O.U.R. (Over-Under-Around) Playground in Manheim.
"You put her on heavy and get her going in there," he explained to Andy
Rohrer, the director of the Manheim Central Park & Recreation Commission. The high-tech goop dries in less than an hour.
And, presto, the wood is protected. Rain, rot and bugs should stay out.
Chromated copper arsenate preservative -- which contains arsenic -- should stay in. And that's good.
Health advocates have long maintained that CCA preservatives commonly used to deflect insects and fungus from pressure-treated lumber pose a much greater public health risk -- especially to children -- than arsenic in drinking water.
The wood treatment industry denies environmentalists' claims linking CCA to nerve damage and cancer.
The debate flared again last summer after the Environmental Working Group and other organizations asked the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban CCA in wooden playground equipment.
Park and recreation crews have long tried to seal in CCA by coating wood with linseed oil or shellac, but that's an imperfect solution.
Now, there's an alternative.
Lukowski, a former Armstrong World Industries chemist, has formulated a
plastic, water-based coating that goes on smooth and sticks like mad.
He visited Manheim's Veterans Memorial Park last week to show Rohrer the benefits of the new adhesive.
He's hoping to market what he calls "A-800 Lastic Wood Coating" across the county and, possibly, the state.
Michael G. Nast of Roda & Nast said he and other lawyers familiar with CCA are eager to explore potential remedies just such as Lukowski's.
"If there's a product better than shellac," Nast said, "everybody would be interested in that."
Lukowski founded Landisville-based Lutech Inc. and its Advantage Adhesives Inc. division after retiring early from Armstrong. Three years ago, he developed a plastic adhesive with the initial aim of protecting his son-in-law's deck at the shore.
"I experimented for a while and came up with this formulation."
Lukowski has not yet patented A-800 and won't reveal the ingredients. But he said the quick-drying elastic coating was designed for use on metal, concrete and, especially, pressure-treated wood.
He said the nonpigmented substance is ideal in many ways.
It's nonflammable, unaffected by ultraviolet rays from the sun and
slip-resistant even when wet.
It will last indefinitely on the shelf, as long as it's kept from freezing.
It slows, but doesn't stop, wood from turning gray, and it also has "good chemical resistance" to food and other substances people may spill on it, Lukowski said.
Being water-based and containing no lead, he said, "it's not a particularly hazardous material," so handlers don't need to take special precautions beyond wearing eye protection.
It's also great from a kid's point of view because it helps bind wood
surfaces and discourage splintering, Lukowski said.
It gives off a fraction of the volatile organic compounds (gases) that
linseed oil does, Lukowski added, and it's also much more effective at
containing CCA.
While oil provides only three months of protection, he continued, a single treatment of A-800 yields a one-mil-thick film that should last a year. Three coatings should provide a permanent shield. One gallon covers 800 square feet of smooth wood.
"It's a high-quality product," said Lukowski, who has tested it on several surfaces in recent years.
At $35 a gallon, A-800 isn't cheap.
To encourage volunteers to use it on playgrounds and around their own homes, however, Lukowski is giving away five free gallons per drum sold to municipalities.
A number of communities, including Akron and Lancaster, are interested in trying the material, according to Lukowski, who plans to do a test
application Thursday at Long's Park.
The adhesive also sounded like welcome news to attorney Nast.
Courts and attorneys, he said, "would certainly consider products like this in trying to fashion broad-based relief from arsenic-treated wood."
Bob Wendelgass said the nonprofit Clean Water Action group continues to urge people to avoid arsenic-treated lumber in new construction.
However, he said, the idea of encapsulating existing CCA-permeated wood is sound. "If (Lukowski's invention) is a relatively non-toxic way of doing that, it's a positive development."
Recreation commission workers liked what they saw Friday in Manheim's
Veterans Memorial Park. "We're very interested in this one," said Andy
Rohrer, who plans to organize a community event to help coat part of the O.U.R. Playground.
