Playground toxins
Overview and health risks

Arsenic in Wood = Poison In the Playground

Until recently, approximately 90 percent of outdoor wooden structures were made using wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). This substance, which is roughly 25 percent arsenic, served the purpose of preventing rot and repelling pests that might damage the wood.

In the 1980s, almost all industries were told they could no longer use arsenic in their consumer products. But the lumber industry caught a huge break from the federal government, and wood producers were granted an exemption from the new law.

Because of this, picnic tables, playground equipment and other wooden structures currently in place at schools and park playgrounds may be constructed of wood that contains high levels of arsenic.

Of course, unlike arsenic in water, we don’t eat wood. And of all the things our kids munch on, they almost never try to chomp on a wooden plank. So there’s nothing to worry about, right?  Wrong.

Arsenic can still seep out of the wood, ending up on palms and fingers, whether your own or those of the kids. And it’s the exposure that children face that really is a concern. Young children, for example, often put their hands in their mouths after handling things. And even after they leave the toddler stage, kids can transfer arsenic from wood to the food they eat, or otherwise inadvertently ingest it. Finally, kids in general are more vulnerable to arsenic, which has been linked to various cancers, organ diseases and neurological problems.

Tests performed in 2001 by Environmental Working Group and Healthy Building Network found that lumber sold in major stores like The Home Depot and Lowe's contained arsenic far in excess of the guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That so-called “safe” EPA level is 10 micrograms of arsenic per liter of drinking water. On average, surface contamination of an area of CCA-treated lumber the size of a child's hand exceeded that level by an 120 times.

Early 2002 marked a turning point, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and lumber industry representatives decided on a phase-out of CCA-treated wood by 2004. While this is a great victory for Generation Green and great news for parents and other concerned citizens, it is not the end of the story.

For one thing, a phase-out doesn’t do anything to remove the threat of wood still out there. Remember, 90% of outdoor wooden structures used CCA-treated wood. That’s a huge amount of wood that can still expose our families to arsenic ingestion. You can learn more about how helping to reduce exposure to arsenic-treated wood in schools and playgrounds using the links on the left-hand side of this page.