Arsenic-Treated Wood Barks, But Bite isQuestioned

By Gary S. Mogel

You've abated the asbestos, remediated the mold, stripped thelead paint, blocked the radiation, filtered the tap water and maybeeven quit smoking.

But don't head out onto your wood deck for a breath of freshair, or stroll down to the wooden picnic tables for a celebratoryluncheon. The wood in that deck and in those tables may containarsenic. And you probably haven't done anything about thatyet.

Arsenic-treated wood (also known as “chromated copper arsenate”(CCA) or “pressure-treated” wood) is a potential problem that hasstarted seeping into the public's consciousness, as well as intotheir backyards.

In one often cited case, a woman who complained of intensevomiting and diarrhea was found to have 100 times more arsenic inher body than normal. Local law enforcement suspected that herhusband was trying to kill her, and launched an investigation.

But the homicide theory was dropped after the husband wasexamined and found to have even more arsenic in his body than hiswife had. It turns out that the unfortunate (but still happilymarried) couple had been building a log cabin, and had done everyconceivable thing with and to arsenic-treated wood that youshouldn't do, including cutting and burning it.

So how did arsenic find its way into wood, you may bewondering.

“Arsenic acts as an insecticide and is needed to prevent rot,”said Dr. Barbara D. Beck, a principal of Gradient Corporation, aCambridge, Mass.-based environmental consulting firm. Dr. Beck is atoxicologist specializing in health risk assessment forenvironmental chemicals and a lecturer in the field of toxicologyat Harvard University.

“When used properly, there have been no verified reports ofadverse health effects,” Dr. Beck noted. “The only confirmed casesof injury involved burning the wood, and that's not a proper use.The amount of arsenic exposure to children and adults from thistype of wood is small, it's not enough to cause serious harm,”according to Dr. Beck.

As with other substances suspected of being toxic, injuries haveled to insurance claims and lawsuits. Those lawsuits–as well aspublicity generated by local newspaper accounts of toxicplaygrounds and frantic parents–have prompted rulemaking andlegislation.

Class actions against manufacturers, processors, and sellers ofarsenic-treated wood products and structures have arisen inArkansas, Florida and Louisiana. In addition, suits by individualshave been been filed.

Some of the claims involve environmental and property damage,while others allege bodily injury. In the Florida case, classaction status was recently denied because the claims were deemednot similar enough to merit class treatment, according to a federaldistrict court judge.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered a phase-outof arsenic-treated wood in residential construction by the end of2003. However, the EPA has also concluded that there is no“unreasonable risk” to the public or the environment.

So the wood can still be used for commercial and industrialpurposes, and none of what's already out there has to bereplaced.

Another federal agency at center stage in this controversy, theConsumer Product Safety Commission, has issued a report concludingthat children face “an increased risk of lung and bladder cancer”from arsenic-treated wood in playground equipment. The report didnot, however, address adult exposure or suggest that the equipmentshould be removed.

But is there anything to really address?

In a prominently featured statement on the Web site of theFairfax, Va.-based American Wood Preservers Institute (AWPI), Dr.Louis W. Sullivan, former Secretary of the Department of Health andHuman Services, refers to the arsenic-treated wood controversy as acase of the media rushing ahead of science.

“The media and trial lawyers are seizing upon the fact that oneof the ingredients that goes into CCA is arsenic–an admittedlytoxic substance whose reputation has been romanticized in countlessmurder mysteries,” Dr. Sullivan wrote.

But consumer advocacy organizations such as the Washington,D.C.-based Environmental Working Group (EWG) feel that the dangersare real and that government agencies are dragging their feet inprotecting the public.

EWG launched a testing program in which consumers used a kitsold through EWG's Web site to test 263 products and structuresmade of arsenic-treated wood, as well as the soil under thoseproducts and structures. The samples obtained by using the kitswere analyzed by the University of North Carolina at Asheville'sEnvironmental Institute. Those test results found that a child canpick up more arsenic from rubbing a hand on wood than what the EPApermits in a glass of drinking water.

But Dr. Beck points out that the amount of arsenic found on achild's hand has no relevance. “What's relevant is how much of itgets into the body, and arsenic does not get absorbed readily,” shesaid. “Pediatricians have looked into this and concluded that theydon't see any health risks and they don't see the need to measureor study it any further.”

The study to which Dr. Beck refers was commissioned by theFlorida Department of Public Health and conducted by the PhysiciansArsenic Work Group, a panel of Florida doctors. The panel concludedthat arsenic-treated wood “has never been linked to skin diseasesor cancer in children exposed during recreational use.”

Consumer group EWG's testing also found that the soil from 40percent of backyards containing arsenic-treated wooden equipmentexceeds the EPA's Superfund cleanup level of 20 parts permillion.

According to Dr. Beck, arsenic-treated decks and otherstructures can't leach enough arsenic into the soil to create aserious hazard.

“If it got into the soil, it would be a localized phenomenon andindistinguishable from other sources of arsenic, which is asubstance that occurs naturally in the environment,” Dr. Beck said.“There would be a modestly elevated level of arsenic, it might befatal to some earthworms, and the termites that it's supposed tokill, but that's about it.”

Nevertheless, EWG remains adamant that the public is at risk andmore and better testing needs to be done. “The EPA's advice hasmisled millions of consumers about the safety of arsenic-treatedwood,” noted Jane Houlihan, EWG's vice president for research.

Some states, including California, Florida and New York, are notwaiting for federal agency pronouncements or private studies. Theyhave passed or are considering laws limiting or banning the use ofarsenic-treated lumber in playground equipment and other productsand structures.

It appears that the insurance industry has yet to be impacted inany significant way by arsenic-treated wood.

Rock Island, Ill.-based Bituminous Casualty Company specializesin programs for the contracting and forest products industries.Bruce Horack, the Bituminous senior vice president of claims,indicated that he had come across “only one or two” claimsinvolving arsenic-treated lumber.

John Crowell, assistant vice president in the claims managementdivision of XL Reinsurance America in Stamford, Conn., and authorof an article on arsenic-treated wood in the January 2003 issue ofXL Re's Liability Bulletin, recalls working on one claimof this type.

“I haven't heard anyone saying much about arsenic-treated wood;our member companies have not been expressing concern about it,”said Dave Golden, director of commercial lines for the Des Plaines,Ill.-based National Association of Independent Insurers. “It's agood chance it's one of those alarms that turns out to be not worthanything.”

Industry trade group AWPI points out that manufacturers havealready found equally effective and less controversial substitutesfor arsenic, and that this wood treatment method is being phasedout.

Nevertheless, those who know about this possible hazard willlikely never again look at their wooden decks and picnic tables inquite the same way.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, March 24, 2003.Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serialpublication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as anindependent work may be held by the author.