Burning CCA treated timber & ash
A significant health hazard was facing one of our members recently who was out bike riding along a popular bicycle/walking track near the Norton Street wetlands. An information shelter had been burnt down by vandals and the ash was lying in a heap on the ground along with a large amount of charred wood. Maroondah Council had tied one piece of plastic tape to the four supporting posts that were left standing. The area was accessible to the public. On closer inspection the timber was found to be CCA treated pine which, when burned, is extremely toxic. Burning the wood not only releases dangerous amounts of arsenic gas and dioxins, but also concentrates the arsenic, chromium and copper in the residual ash at levels that can kill (check out the facts under Inside Stories – CCA timber overview). The South Australian EPA have put out an information Bulletin titled “Public Health Danger – Ash From CCA Treated Timber” and in it they state:
“Children, pets and farm animals should be excluded from land where CCA ash is present. Animals will want to lick or eat the salty residue and young children, especially those under 5 years, are at high risk from personal contact and ingestion. Animal deaths from ingesting ash have previously been reported on farms in the USA and UK.
Since people are generally aware that CCA timber should not be burnt, this is not a common hazard. Only a few grams of ash could be very dangerous.”
Some people may be generally aware about the hazards of burning CCA timber, but few would be aware of the dangers posed by the ash. Maroondah Council were certainly not aware, otherwise they wouldn’t have left it accessible to the public for as long as they did. Our member went home and rang Council on the emergency number (of course it was a Sunday!) and left a message for someone to ring back. A Council officer returned his call and, after being told of the situation, said that he had been to a seminar about CCA timber and was told that it was “pretty much harmless.” Apparently Council were waiting for the insurance assessor to check out the structure before cleaning up the site.
“Now that astounded me” said the CCS member, “after all the publicity about CCA and the fact that it is soon to be banned for certain uses, they were still not aware of the dangers.” He insisted that Council fence the area off and cover the ash to prevent access and to stop it being blown around.
“I then printed off the S.A EPA Fact Sheet, returned to the site and secured it to one of the posts so that people were aware of the dangers.”
To their credit, albeit somewhat late, Council secured the site that afternoon with webbing and covered the ash with sand. We sent further information to Council’s OH and S officer the following week about the hazards associated with CCA timber. “Thanks for scaring the pants off me” he said!
This life-threatening event only serves to highlight the lack of awareness out there and demonstrates the very poor communication, between both State and Federal regulatory authorities, local government and the general public, about the hazardous nature and risks associated with CCA treated timber. Something needs to done about it and soon.
CCA TESTING IN HEALESVILLE
In May 2005 we requested that the APVMA, (the Federal regulatory authority for chemicals), carry out a toxicological assessment of the very high levels of arsenic – 600mg/kg – that we found in algae growing on some of the timber at a Healesville kindergarten. A previous U.S. study also reported this phenomenon:
“One study reported that green algae collected from CCA-treated bulkheads had elevated levels of all three CCA components, suggesting that these organisms either take up leachate as it leaves the wood or remove nonleached components (Weis and Weis 1992).”
The maximum allowable level of arsenic allowed in a litre of drinking water in Australia is 7µg. The arsenic reported in the algae is close to 100,000 times that level. We are still waiting for the APVMA to finish the assessment. We have answered a series of questions from the APVMA about the testing which, incidentally, was analysed by the State Chemistry Laboratory.
The algae has a tendency to grow in shaded, damp areas on CCA treated fences, pergolas and play equipment.
The U.S. has withdrawn CCA timber from sale for many applications due to the “unacceptable risk to humans, particularly children.” The Europen Union has also banned CCA treated timber for the same reasons. The Australian ban comes into force on March 31st. However, we are very concerned about the implementation and the enforcement procedures. Who will actually be checking that the review recommendations are carried out? The States have been given the responsibility and we wonder if they realise it?
SOME VERY CONCERNED MOTHERS
Early in 2005 we were contacted by a very distraught mother about her young child, who had been diagnosed with arsenic, chromium and copper in his system. Her doctor was unable to tell her how these metals came to be in her child’s body. It wasn’t until she came across our website, and the information about CCA treated timber, that she realised just where her child could have picked them up.
“My blood ran cold”, she said. “When I read about CCA treated timber I realised this is where he could have got it. We had built a deck out of this timber and my child has been crawling all over it. I also regularly took him to a playground that was also built out of CCA timber.”
Her child had numerous problems, including Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The mother contacted us again recently to say that most of the copper, chromium and arsenic had been removed through extensive chelation therapy, a very unpleasant experience for the whole family. Her doctor has written a letter explaining that her child must not be exposed to CCA timber. That is proving to be very difficult as it is ubiquitous in our environment.
In a 2nd incident a mother contacted us, after reading about CCA on our website, to tell us that both her children had been sick for about 3 days, with vomiting and stomach pains, while their CCA treated pine verandah was being built. This is what she wrote:
“I am so angry and worried. My son and daughter were playing outside while the deck was being constructed, it was windy and sawdust was flying everywhere. The builders weren’t wearing any protection and all the windows in my house were open I wasn’t worried at all.
I have since spoken to the builder and he said he wasn’t even aware what CCA is and that the supplier (Gunns Limited Tasmania) didn’t mention anything to him. Surely THEY must be aware. I am angry to learn just how dangerous it is, so dangerous that the government is banning it next year. They (Gunns Limited) must be aware of that.
Please can you answer a few questions for me:
My son had diarrhoea for 3 days during construction and vomited a couple of times – I didn’t think much of it. My daughter has complained of a sore tummy. Am I looking for symptoms or could my children be affected by arsenic?
Sawdust is everywhere outside, so I am not letting my kids go outside is that necessary?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I am sorry it is so long, but like you and everyone else, my kids are my passion”
Vomiting and diarrhoea is a classic symptom of acute exposure to arsenic.
Just how many other children are out there with elevated levels of arsenic, chromium and copper in their bodies? Are heavy metal levels routinely checked in children with neurological disturbances? How many physicians know about CCA exposure and what to look for?
Arsenic and Diabetes
It is not only cancer concerns associated with arsenic exposure, there are numerous studies that implicate chronic arsenic exposure to diabetes. Diabetes prevalence has doubled in Australia since 1980. Diabetes trends have been described as alarming, particularly in children. Environmental contaminants have been listed as a cause of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. If this is the case, then shouldn’t the health authorities be doing everything to limit children’s arsenic exposure, especially when they have little idea of the levels that children are being exposed to? Are arsenic levels routinely checked in children or adults who present with diabetes symptoms? The authorities need to start doing this so we can assess the levels that the general population is being exposed to in the ‘real’ world.
‘Absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence.’
Arsenic and Melanoma
Arsenic exposure has been implicated in the development of melanoma in a number of studies. In 2004, in a study of arsenic concentrations in toe-nail clippings the researchers concluded:
“The authors found an increased risk of melanoma for participants with elevated toenail arsenic concentrations.“
Arsenic in toenails is a sign of chronic exposure. Arsenic exposure can induce faster growth of melanomas. Chronic arsenic exposure also alters immune sustem function. It is reported that children may be more susceptible to arsenic than adults, since they are less efficient at converting inorganic arsenic to the less harmful organic forms. Inorganic arsenic is used in CCA timber.
There are no studies available that document the health effects of arsenic, chromium and copper taken together, so how can anyone possibly say that it is safe? Perhaps routine checking of body arsenic levels needs to be implemented, particularly in diseases and illnesses associated with arsenic contact, because of the insidious nature of the exposure. Most people would be unaware of the exposure mechanisms and how it gets into the system.
From another study:
“Arsenic exposure induces cardiovascular diseases, developmental abnormalities, neurological and neurobehavioral disorders, diabetes, hearing loss, hematological disorders, and various types of cancer. Recent reports have pointed out that arsenic poisoning appears to be one of the major public health problems of pandemic nature. Research has also pointed to significantly higher standardized mortality rates for cancers of the bladder, kidney, skin, liver, and colon in many areas of arsenic pollution.”
We await the APVMA assessment with interest.
