Is Your Deck Hazardous to Your
Health?
About 90% of decks, fences and playsets built prior to
Lumber stores were allowed to sell
their remaining stocks
and some had enough to keep selling it for months beyond that
date.
Arsenic from this wood is easily
transferred to the skin just by touching and small children who put their hands
in their mouths are the most susceptible.
One report estimates that one out of
every 500 children who regularly play on swing sets and decks made from this
type of wood (about one child in an average size elementary school) will
develop lung or bladder cancer later in life.
It is important for all who come in
contact with this type of wood to wash their hands.
Sealants may help but it hasn’t been
determined which are best. It is
recommended that this wood not be sanded because of the arsenic in the airborne
particles that are released during sanding.
It is recommended that the wood not
be burned because it will release arsenic into the air. One tablespoon of the ashes contains a lethal
dose.
There are test kits available by
various groups. One, a non-profit can be
located at the Environmental Working Group website:
www.ewg.org.
Source: Mary Ann Uzelac