GROUPS CALL FOR BAN ON ARSENIC TREATED WOOD

The Healthy Building Network (HBN) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) today petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban arsenic treated wood in playground equipment and to review its safety for use in other consumer items.

                       

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Subject:    GROUPS CALL FOR BAN ON ARSENIC TREATED WOOD
 Date:        Thu, 24 May 2001 07:19:26 -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 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article entitled: GROUPS CALL FOR BAN ON ARSENIC TREATED WOOD.

WASHINGTON, DC, May 23, 2001 (ENS) - The Healthy Building Network (HBN) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) today petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban arsenic treated wood in playground equipment and to review its safety for use in other consumer items.

The petition was sent in conjunction with the groups' release of their report, "Poisoned Playgrounds: Arsenic in Pressure Treated Wood."

Almost all of the lumber sold in the U.S. is pressure treated and injected with toxins to preserve the wood and prevent bugs. The most common wood preservative and pesticide used for this purpose is chromated copper arsenate (CCA), which is 22 percent pure arsenic.

A 12 foot section of pressure-treated lumber contains about an ounce of arsenic, or enough to kill 250 people. The U.S. wood products industry is the world's largest consumer of the poison, using half of all arsenic produced worldwide. Arsenic is banned for all agricultural and food uses, but it has a specific exemption for use in wood under the federal pesticide law.

"We know that arsenic in drinking water is dangerous for children, but what we found was that the arsenic in lumber is an even greater risk," said EWG analyst Renee Sharp, principal author of the report. "In less than two weeks, an average five year old playing on an arsenic treated playset would exceed the lifetime cancer risk considered acceptable under federal pesticide law."

The American Wood Preservers Institute (AWPI) said the groups' study is flawed and draws misleading conclusions. (See Reality Check)

"We believe it is irresponsible to make inflammatory statements about an extremely beneficial, time tested product on the basis of a faulty, highly biased study," said AWPI president Scott Ramminger. "There is extensive scientific research by such respected sources as the Director of Florida State University's Toxicology Program, the California State Department of Health Services, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, attesting to the fact that CCA-preserved wood poses no undue health risks to children."

Well Mr. Helliker, by extrapolation only a one foot section (about the area a sitting child covers) of pressure-treated lumber contains enough arsenic to kill over 20 people! It really is too bad that those "scientists" involved in the "extensive scientific research" that Scott Ramminger speaks of did not take an oath not to harm the people or the earth before they began. I thought you might like to see a tentative declaration for scientists:

'I promise to work for a better world, where science and technology are used in socially responsible ways. I will not use my education for any purpose intended to harm human beings or the environment. Throughout my career, I will consider the ethical implications of my work before I take action. While the demands placed upon me may be great, I sign this declaration because I recognize that individual responsibility is the first step on the path to peace.'" - Sir Joseph Rotblat (Nobel Laureate, Physics, 1995), Science 286 [editorial], November 19, 1999.

There are safe and I believe far more effective alternatives to pressure treated lumber. 

Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten

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