Arsenic in treated wood

I was reading in Family Circle...Feb.11...page 89... about the danger of treated wood....as I am not into gardening like you good folk are, I had heard a little about the " stuff" in the treated wood years ago but little did I realize how serious it is 'til I read this article....maybe someone that doesn't know about it might want to read it...scarry, especially around children....hope I am not boring you with my "newfound information".

I saw a thing on TV not too long ago about a couple that was building a house themselves and the lady wound up getting really sick, when she went to the Hospital they told her that she had arsenic in her body and they "thought" her own husband was trying to poison her!! Not sure of all the details, but I "think" he was arrested for it and then they tested him and found he also had arsenic in his body also, they then figured out that it was in the wood that they were using to build the deck/house with!
That would be scarey!!

Wow, I had no idea -- with all the nitpicky regulations that exist in some areas, you wouldn't think arsenic-treated wood would even be legal.

Actually, whiterose, it will be illegal soon.

I've done pretty much research on this over the yrs (even did some for Home Depot employees once).

Finally, after yrs of controversy, the EPA got into it and has set a date to get rid of it. I think by the end of either this yr or 2004 it will no longer be available. There are much safer alternatives now, and the present-day lumber yards that treat would will be easily able to convert over to the safer method.

Oh, that's good to know, Horseshoe! Thank you for this information.

I *think* it's 12/2003 that all retail sales will stop of CCA-treated wood (aka "pressure-treated wood" that we use for deck and other outdoor projects.)

It seems there's another chemical being used to treat wood, but I can't think of what it is. I'm guessing that will take the place of CCA-treated wood, along with the recycled plastic/wood products that came out a few years ago (great stuff, but pricey.)

What about the composite panels that are used as bed platforms and in dresser drawers? Or is it just wood intended for outdoor use that's treated with arsenic?

Up here we have an arsenic free treated wood avaiable. The old stuff is in the far end of the yards now and only gets used for underground stuff. Lots of parks have tore down the old treated wood swings & playground equipment. Dirt under them has to be removed because of all the chemicals that leached. Very bad thing to use for garden borders & things like that. We built a deck about 4 yrs ago. I used all cedar for it, didn't cost to much more. It also looks nicer than the green stuff.
Composite boards, like your cheap furniture, wouldn't make it to long out in the weather. Take a scrap & dump a little water on it and see what happens!
Bernie

Is the arsenic used as a preservative?

The arsenic is used both as a preservative and a way to prevent termite damage. There has been a lot of discussion of CCA-treated wood in Organic Gardening magazine for a decade or more. They very strongly recommended that if you have used any pressure-treated wood in any edible landscaping areas, especially in a veggie garden, have the soil tested for possible arsenic poisoning.

Many chemicals that had been permitted are now banned for sale (or soon will be), and will gradually be removed from trade: Captan (fungicide); dursban (insecticide); diazanon (liquid and granule insecticide) are the most well-known. As more research is done on the long-term effects of chemicals, the banned list grows, and new things are always being created. That is a huge reason why it is so important to always (I know a lot of people have heard this before) READ THE LABEL before using any product.

Thank you so much for that very helpful information!

The sad thing is that pressure-treated wood was supposed to last 40 years when in direct contact with soil, although no one has had it for that long to know. I left some cuts, from the ends of the 2x12s I used for my new porch, lying on the ground last fall. They are totally riddled with termite damage! So what of the expense of this wood for my porch? I know it won't last 40 years, nor will I last that long to be around to complain, but the extra cost of that wood was significant. Frankly, I never believed even when the builder was telling me it would last that long. No wood in direct contact with the soil will be able to last that long. So for future projects, I intend to go back to the methods my grandparents used, keeping wood away from soil. The porch isn't finished, and I am beginning to think it never will be in my lifetime, but I believe I have bought the last of the arsenic treated wood. I also have treated 2x6s for the subfloor, but will cover it with solid plywood and then a layer of vinyl. The old house to which this porch is being added, after the original one rotted away, is built of wood from an even older house, which is over 140 years old. My walls are still solid, but the flooring has some damage. Piers are cedar stumps, set directly on the soil about 64 years ago. They have begun to sustain some damage, but after all that time, I think they worked quite well. No chemicals were used, just the natural stuff found in cedar.

MaryK...remember how many decks DH and I built up at the lake? Think of all the arsenic we handled!! Thanks for starting this thread. Jo

FL had some big problems with arsenic poisoning maybe a year or so ago. It was in a playground made of treated lumber. They checked a couple others and found high arsenic levels there, too. Ultimately, all the local playgrounds were shut down and taped off with police tape so no one would play on them while the EPA and some local environmental firms went around and did soil sampling. Pretty much all the local playgrounds that had any treated wood in the structures ended up being torn down and completely replaced. An expensive venture to be sure. I don't think anyone actually died from arsenic poisoning, but the incident certainly raised awareness of the problem. Who's to say the new product will not prove to have the same kinds of problems, to. I for one will be wearing full battle gear (safety glasses, gloves, and a dust mask) to work with any lumber.