Is Pressure Treated Wood Kid-Safe?
This question isn’t as easy to answer as you might think. There are two reasons why. On one hand the lumber industry has voluntarily moved to halt consumer sales of all lumber treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) by Dec. 31, 2003. And this move has been backed up in the US by legislation that outlaws CCA consumer sales by January 2004. That sounds serious, the kind of thing you’d do to deal with a dangerous health risk. But when you look further the issue becomes less clear. Although CCA is being dropped like a hot potato, the official position of regulatory agencies remains the same as it’s always been. This material poses no unreasonable health risks. And don’t forget, these are the words of independent health watchdogs that don’t stand to benefit regardless of what’s used to preserve wood. In fact, we’re specifically advised by authorities to keep using CCA while available, to leave existing CCA structures standing, and to leave surrounding soil in place. To answer this appa
