CCA-treated Play Sets and Decking

Since the 1970s, chromated copper arsenate (CCA) has been the primary chemical preservative used in pressure-treated wood for residential settings. This means that if you’ve got a deck, a picnic table or a backyard play set, you’ve probably got CCA-treated wood. A compound of three pesticides including arsenic (a known human carcinogen and suspected endocrine disruptor), chromium and copper, CCA can rub off on hands and leach into the ground beneath structures. In particular, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has warned that exposure to CCA can increase the risk of lung and bladder cancers, with children facing greater exposures owing to increased hand-to-mouth contact after rubbing wood or playing on the earth beneath decks and other structures.

There are other safer outdoor products, however, and these will increase as the three companies registered to produce CCA-treated wood for residential use voluntarily phase out its production by the end of this year. After 2003, they will be subject to EPA enforcement if they continue to produce residential-use CCA wood, although it will remain available for certain other purposes such as marine pilings and highway barriers. According to David Deegan, spokesman for the EPA, “Companies with CCA-treatment licenses want to get out of the market and are already ratcheting down production. The EPA’s own risk assessment of CCA is ongoing and will be published later this year.” See Resources, below.

What You Can Do

• Order an arsenic-test kit ($15 to $30 for wood or soil) from www.ewg.org/reports/poisonwoodrivals/orderform.php.

• Children’s hands should always be washed immediately after they have played around any suspected CCA wood, and they should never eat on it.

• For decking, furniture and playground CCA wood, the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition advises it be sealed every six months with a water-based paint or sealant such as AFM Safecoat’s low-VOC products (see GG#95, “Checkout Counter: Paint” and “Eco-Renovation,” for more low-VOC paints and sealants).

• If you decide to get rid of your CCA wood, treat it as hazardous waste and contact your state or local solid-waste-management office for instructions on disposal. Sawing it can expose you to more arsenic in the wood dust. Never burn it.

Resources

See The Green Guide Product Report on Backyard Playground Equipment for the best advice on environmentally safer alternatives and other ways to protect your child from toxic exposures.

CCA-Free Options

RECYCLED PLASTIC FURNITURE

Eco-Furniture (Adirondack chairs and tables): 800-233-8438,www.eco-furniture.com

Allen Ventures (tables): 877-423-9800, www.allenventures.com/tables.htm

Plastic Recycling of Iowa Falls (tables): 800-338-1438, www.hammersplastic.com

WOOD PLAY SETS

CedarWorks (chemical-free models made from Northern white cedar): 800-G0-CEDAR, www.cedarworks.com

PlayNation (arsenic- and chromium-free ammonical copper quat [ACQ] treated wood): 800-445-PLAY, www.playnation.com

DECKING

Environmental Home Center: 800-281-9785, www.built-e.com

Trex recycled plastic and waste wood decking: 800-BUY-TREX, www.trex.com

EPA info site on CCA: www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/chemicals/residential_use_cancellation.htm