WOOD PESTICIDE PROBLEMS HIGHLIGHTED IN NEW REPORT

The stories of families whose health has been damaged by toxic wood preservatives are detailed in a new report

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Subject:   WOOD PESTICIDE PROBLEMS HIGHLIGHTED IN NEW REPORT------
Date:      Sat, 07 Oct 2000 11:42:08 -0400
From:        Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article entitled: WOOD PESTICIDE PROBLEMS HIGHLIGHTED IN NEW REPORT.

WASHINGTON, DC, October 6, 2000 (ENS) - The stories of families whose health has been damaged by toxic wood preservatives are detailed in a new report from Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP). Wood preservatives, used in pressure treated wood, utility poles and railroad ties, are among the most toxic chemicals known to humankind. They account for more than 30 percent of all pesticides used in the U.S. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) review of the safety of wood preservatives, which includes pentachlorophenol (penta), creosote, and chromated copper arsenate (CCA), has been stalled for three years under pressure from the wood preserving industry, NCAMP says.

The report highlights five families in Alabama, Arkansas, Michigan, Montana and Washington. Their stories cover wood preservative contamination in a community where wood is treated, around a cogeneration plant where treated wood is burned, from a deck that is built out of recycled utility poles, and through occupational exposure. Each story cited reflects what Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP calls, "the tragic result of EPA's failure to adequately regulate chemicals it determined years ago to warrant more stringent restrictions." EPA told Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP in 1997 that it was reevaluating the wood preservatives by the end of 1998, but has delayed any action to the end of 2001. "EPA's failure to take action on wood preservatives constitutes an abuse of its authority, given what the agency knows about the hazardous nature of these chemicals," said Greg Kidd, NCAMP's science and legal policy director. The report is available at: http://www.beyondpesticides.org

Well, Mr. Helliker, I would like to point out that since 1953, when non-volatile sodium borate (borax) was mandated in New Zealand to be used to treat and pretreat lumber and homes and buildings, there has never been any evidence of even one successful attack of wood destroying organisms in New Zealand, no matter what the conditions.  We use the same non-volatile materials to treat our cellulose insulation to keep it permanently free of infestations and to make it fire retardant.  But, there is obviously a lot more PROFIT in continuing to use and reuse your dangerous, volatile "registered" POISONS.

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