Group Charges That CCAS Remain Present, Harmful In Wood

Date: August 29, 2002

Source: News Room

After tests of several hundred wood decks and play sets, an environmental group says the risks of being exposed to arsenic from treated, pressurized wood is just as great in old, worn structures as with freshly treated lumber. The Environmental Working Group released a report last week indicating that tests conducted by volunteers in 45 states showed that the age of the structures had no effect on arsenic levels found on the surface of the treated wood. Some tests also showed arsenic in soil near or under the structures at levels many times higher than the cleanup standard at a Superfund toxic waste site. Lumber companies have agreed to phase out chromated copper arsenate after December 2003, but the EPA did not believe there was any reason for people to replace the existing CCA-treated wood.

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