CPSC Rejects Immediate Ban on Arsenic-Treated Playground Equipment

[papau]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAS5H99MMD.html


CPSC Rejects Immediate Ban on Arsenic-Treated Playground Equipment
By Jonathan D. Salant Associated Press Writer
Published: Nov 4, 2003


WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators decided Tuesday not to ban arsenic-treated lumber for children's play equipment because most manufacturers no longer use the chemical, which is believed to increase the risk of cancer.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted unanimously to adopt its staff's recommendation, which said a ban was not needed because the wood industry no longer uses treated wood.
The industry agreed last year, following discussions with the Environmental Protection Agency, to stop building products with the treated wood by the end of the year. The EPA also has removed the pesticide, chromated copper arsenate, from its list of approved chemicals.
CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton said his agency and the EPA are studying ways of coating existing wood structures to seal in the arsenic. Because it will take some time to see if the sealants work, he said any solution to the problem of existing structures with the pesticide is still two years away. <snip>

[papau]

1. DUPE in LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=199392