Word: arsenicated
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...boards--ordinary planks and posts injected with an extraordinary preservative known as CCA that can extend the life of wood fivefold, eliminating repairs and saving millions of trees annually. What got less attention at the time is the fact that CCA stands for chromated copper arsenate--a form of arsenic. And that's turned out to be a problem...
Though CCA is infused deep into the fibers of wood under very high pressure, the poison--which keeps the insects away--now seems to be leaching out. It's bad enough if decks, docks and maybe even a few picnic tables begin sweating arsenic, but the toxin was also widely used in children's playgrounds, where over the past couple of decades thousands of whimsical wooden forts and castles have been built on sites that once housed metal swings and cagelike jungle gyms...
Doctors admit that no one knows precisely what concentrations of environmental arsenic are toxic, and the wood-treatment industry insists that wherever that line is, its products don't cross it. Environmental groups, however, disagree, insisting that at any dosage level, children and arsenic don't mix. Says Richard Wiles, pesticide director for the nonprofit Environmental Working Group: "We've pretty much set up an arsenic delivery system for kids...
...scientists investigating arsenic, the numbers are sobering. Ninety-eight percent of outdoor wood sold in the U.S. is treated with CCA. In Florida alone, nearly 30,000 tons of arsenic are believed to be at large. Investigators testing soil in the state's playgrounds have found arsenic levels far higher than hazardous-waste experts consider safe. Prolonged exposure can lead to nerve damage, dizziness and numbness, as well as increased risk of bladder, lung and skin cancer...
Rick Feutz knows better than most the harm that arsenic can do. In 1986 the Washington State teacher was building a wooden raft for his children, a job that required a lot of sawing--and a lot of sawdust. Within days, he felt achy and nauseated and experienced a tingling in his hands. The problem persisted, and eventually doctors diagnosed arsenic poisoning. The price he has paid is high: he lost a third of his overall motor control, and, even today, his face remains partly paralyzed. "My eye droops; I have weakness in my arms and legs," he says...