News Coverage
Report says children at greater health risks from CCA-treated lumber
Published March 7, 2003
Just when you thought it was safe to play, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has acknowledged that there are, indeed, health risks associated with lumber treated with chromated copper arsenate, or CCA.
Specifically, a report issued by commission scientists last month said that children who play on playground equipment made from CCA-treated lumber face an increased risk of bladder and lung cancer because of exposure to arsenic.
The report, based on an internal staff study, focused on health risks to children, not to adults.
Beginning Jan. 1, CCA-treated lumber will no longer be permitted in residential use, although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will continue to allow it in some industrial, commercial, agricultural and marine applications, as well as for most engineered-wood products such as plywood.
CCA-treated lumber will continue to be produced and used in residential construction until Dec. 31.
Although the EPA "has not concluded that CCA-treated wood poses any unreasonable risk to the public or the environment," arsenic is a known human carcinogen, and the agency believes any reduction in the levels of potential exposure is desirable. The commission's report came in response to petitions filed by two consumer-advocacy groups, the Environmental Working Group and the Healthy Building Network, that had demanded that CCA-treated wood be banned.
This study confirms what people outside have suspected and studies have shown: that arsenic leaches from this kind of pressure-treated wood, and there is a risk associated with it for people who use it," said Paul Bogart, who directed the Healthy Building Network's campaign.
The three-member commission plans a formal briefing March 12 to consider the staff report and the petitions to ban CCA. The staff recommended that the commissioners defer action until the EPA and CCA manufacturers complete their agreement to phase out CCA treatment, said chairman Hal Stratton.
Bogart criticized the delay, saying: "It is irresponsible to reach the conclusion that children who play on arsenic-treated wood decks face a significantly higher risk of cancer, and then recommend deferring action ... until the EPA finishes a voluntary agreement with industry."
He suggested that the commission turn its attention to what his group contends is an even larger source of childhood arsenic exposures: residential decks and picnic tables. "A child's body doesn't differentiate between the arsenic ... from their deck or their picnic table, and the arsenic from a playground," he said. The Environmental Working Group had harsh words for the EPA, contending that its advice "has misled millions of consumers about the safety of existing arsenic-treated wood," said the group's vice president for research, Jane Houlihan. "It's time that the agency act to protect and inform consumers."
Short of replacing their decks and play sets, families can lower their arsenic exposure by sealing the wood at least every six months, and washing hands thoroughly after contact with the wood, the environmental group said. They also can replace boards in high-use areas such as handrails and decking with arsenic-free alternatives, such as composite lumber.
The product-safety commission's Stratton said there were many risk factors that contribute to a person's risk for developing cancer over a lifetime, such as environment, genetics, diet and behavior such as smoking.
The commission's staff "maintains that an individual child's risk from arsenic in CCA-treated playground equipment will vary depending on many factors," he said. "Those include the amount of arsenic released from the CCA-treated wood, the amount of arsenic picked up on the hands, the number of days and years the child plays on the wood, and the amount of arsenic transferred to the mouth by hand-to-mouth activity.
"The staff considered these types of exposures in calculating the increased lifetime risk of developing lung or bladder cancer," he said.
Increased risk to children is primarily the result of exposure to arsenic residue on the hands, followed by hand-to-mouth contact, the commission's staff said.
To minimize the risk of exposure to arsenic from CCA-treated playground equipment, the commission's staff recommends that parents and caregivers thoroughly wash children's hands with soap and water immediately after play.
In addition, the staff recommends that children not eat while on CCA-treated playground equipment.
Arsenic occurs naturally in the air, soil, water, and in some foods. Though exposure to arsenic from background sources like these could be much higher than the exposure from playgrounds for some children, exposure to arsenic from CCA-treated playgrounds could be a significant source of arsenic for other children on those days that include a playground visit.
Stratton said several playground companies had already begun to use wood treated with arsenic-free preservatives. In addition, playground structures can be made of other materials that do not contain arsenic, such as naturally rot-resistant wood (redwood and cedar), metal, plastic, and composite materials.
All of these materials could be used for new construction, he said. (Cedar and redwood play sets tend to be more expensive.) If you are not sure whether your play set was built with CCA, check with the manufacturer.
Test kits are available from the Environmental Working Group. They are sold through the group's Web Site, www.ewg.org, and cost $15 to $30, depending on the test's sophistication. An additional $5 is charged to cover lab fees.
The group says its petition to ban CCA was the result of nationwide tests by 263 consumers of decks, playsets and picnic tables, as well as the arsenic-contaminated soil beneath them, using test kits sold through the Web site. The samples were analyzed by the Environmental Quality Institute at the University of North Carolina in Asheville.
According to the group, the results of the consumer-testing program show: Older decks and play sets (seven to 15 years old) expose people to just as much arsenic on the wood surface as newer structures (less than one year old). The amount of arsenic that testers wiped off a small area of wood about the size of a 4-year-old's handprint (100 square centimeters) typically far exceeds what EPA allows in a glass of water under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Arsenic in the soil from two of every five backyards or parks tested exceeds the EPA's Superfund cleanup level of 20 parts per million.
Commercial wood sealants lose their effectiveness at trapping arsenic after about six months, thus providing no long-term protection from arsenic exposure.
"The Consumer Products Safety Commission fact sheet on arsenic is available by calling 1-800-638-2772 or at its Web site, www.cpsc.gov.