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The pressure treated wood phase out will allow already existing consumer structures to remain and there are currently no special guidelines on pressure treated wood disposal. There are millions of board feet of pressure treated wood allowed into unlined landfills every year. The arsenic can contaminate the environment as well, allowing arsenic contamination in the soil and water.
Federal regulators have not appeared overly alarmed at the risks arsenic poses; especially considering CCA pressure treated wood has been available since the 1930s. With the recent surge of lawsuits continuing to be filed for arsenic poisoning effects, studies on the dangers of arsenics effects are now underway. The outlook for pressure treated wood companies does not appear promising.
In December 2002, the American Wood Preservatives Institute (AWPI) announced all employees would be laid off and operations were being handed over to a management firm. The AWPI was the national industry trade association representing the pressure treated wood industry. In Canada, recent findings indicate the arsenic poisoning effects have not yet been fully tapped into.
Considered some of the most comprehensive work on arsenic in playgrounds, the Environmental Defence Canada found that 60% of the 58 playgrounds tested across Canada had arsenic levels in the soil higher than federal guidelines. The playground structures tested were made from pressure treated wood, with over half of the playgrounds containing levels of arsenic more than twice the guidelines.
With the availability of alternate wood preservatives to CCA, parents and environmentalist continue wondering why the arsenic laced wood is being used in playgrounds and exposing children. In the past, the pressure treated wood industry continued to claim children were safe from the effects of CCA and even if adverse effects were experienced the children were not being exposed at a high enough level to become affected by arsenic contamination.
The possible risk of becoming affected by arsenic poisoning at all should have been enough to immediately eliminate pressure treated wood from the market years ago. In the Canadian report, children were found to ingest a high level of soil while at pressure treated wood playgrounds because of the frequency they put their hands into their mouth. With the new studies showing the high level of toxicity that the arsenic is having on the environment regulators are going to face large problems in the future.
Pressure treated wood using arsenic, an effective poison for hundreds of years, was used in deck construction for many years but is no longer sold for residential use. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned most uses of arsenic as a pesticide...
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