Avoid Health Problems   and Liability

Pressure-Treated Lumber Facts  Since the 1940s, some wood has been treated with an insect and rot-resistant chemical called chromated copper arsenate (CCA).     Manufacturers inject CCA into the wood by a process that uses high pressure to saturate wood products with the chemicals, which is why the public knows the product as "pressure-treated lumber."     CCA protects wood from dry rot, fungi, molds, termites, and other pests that can threaten the integrity of wood products.     In some states, the wood is called “salt-treated wood” because it is a salt formulation of copper and chromium.

CCA-Treated Lumber Turned Dream Home
into Nightmare

In one of the most dramatic cases, a Mississippi couple used pressure-treated wood to build their dream home because they didn't want the exterior, as well as the bathroom and kitchen to rot. They handled the wood with their bare hands and burned some of the scraps.

A few weeks later, the wife became violently ill. She was hospitalized six times in four months. The amount of arsenic in her system — more than 100 times what doctors consider safe — led police to suspect that her husband was trying to kill her. The prosecutor took an attempted murder case to the grand jury, which declined to indict the husband.

An FBI investigation revealed that the arsenic was coming from pressure-treated wood in the home after high levels were also found in the husband's body. The couple says that no one told them that pressure-treated wood contains arsenic and no one gave them instructions about how it should be handled. They are suing the companies that made, distributed and sold the pressure-treated wood; the company that built their home; and the American Wood Preservers Institute, which is the industry’s national trade association. They claim the defendants knowingly marketed and sold a defective and dangerous product without any notice or warning to the public, knowing that the average consumer would not recognize the potential danger it posed to human health.

Construction companies should be aware of the handling instructions for CCA-treated wood to reduce any potential exposure to chemicals in the wood. Specific actions include:

 Saw, sand and machine CCA-treated wood outdoors, and wear a dust mask, goggles and gloves when performing this type of activity.

 Clean up all sawdust, scraps and other construction debris thoroughly and dispose of it in the trash.

 Do not compost or mulch sawdust or remnants from CCA-treated wood. Never burn the wood.

At least three class-action lawsuits are pending against chemical companies, wood treatment companies and retailers. Dozens of individual lawsuits are pending for personal injury or property damage from arsenic that leached out of pressure-treated, outdoor wood structures.

The plaintiffs claim that arsenic leaches out of the wood, causing neurological problems, skin problems, amputations, fatigue, and a variety of cancers. Consumers who have sawed the wood, burned it or got splinters have become very ill. One Utah woman received a $150,000 settlement in federal court for splinters from CCA-treated wood that resulted in the ends of her two fingers being amputated.

The Centers for Disease Control has named arsenic, a heavy metal that accumulates in the liver, as the single most dangerous substance to human health, ahead of mercury, lead and benzene. Even though sales of pressure-treated wood products containing arsenic will be phased out for residential use by January 2004, the products were still being distributed during the transition period and all precautions should be taken to limit liability.