News Coverage
Safety Officials Against Wood-Arsenic Ban
Published October 14, 2003
WASHINGTON — Safety officials recommended that the government reject a requested ban on arsenic-based pesticide on wooden playground equipment. They noted the product is being phased out amid concerns that it could harm children.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission staff said in a recommendation Tuesday that a ban is unnecessary because "most major commercial and residential manufacturers of wood playground equipment have already stopped using" the treated wood. The commission has yet to schedule a vote on a petition for a ban by environmental groups.
The commission also said the wood preservative industry has agreed to stop putting the chemical in most products by January.
Still, the commission stands by its finding in February that children could face an increased risk of developing lung or bladder cancer sometime in their lives if they played on equipment treated with chromated copper arsenate.
Almost all wooden playground equipment has been treated with the pesticide. The concern is that children can get arsenic residue from the treated wood on their hands, then put their hands in their mouths.
The commission suggests parents and caregivers thoroughly wash children's hands with soap and water immediately after they play on equipment made of treated wood.
The agency says that for every 1 million children exposed to the treated wood three times every week for five years, two to 100 of them might develop lung or bladder cancer later in life. The increase is in addition to other risks of getting cancer.
The greatest risk factor for those kinds of cancer is smoking.
Some environmental and consumer groups argue the commission has underestimated the cancer risk.
The wood preservative industry contends that children are exposed to more arsenic in food and water than in wooden playground equipment.
While the agreement to phase out the pesticide applies to new products, the safety commission and the Environmental Protection Agency are studying ways to coat treated wood with a sealant to prevent arsenic from coming through.