From: Robina Suwol
Date: 17 Feb 2003
Time: 05:51:25
Remote Name: 24.28.137.94
WOODEN PLAYGROUNDS MAY POST CANCER RISK
BY David Ho, .c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Children could face an increased lifetime risk of developing lung
or bladder cancer from using playground equipment made of wood treated with
arsenic, the nation's top product safety official said Friday.
Almost all wood playground equipment now in use has been treated with a
pesticide called chromated copper arsenate, said Hal Stratton, chairman of the
Consumer Product Safety Commission. He said children can get arsenic
residue from the treated wood on their hands and then put their hands in their
mouths.
Stratton said the agency's scientists recommend that parents and
caregivers thoroughly wash children's hands with soap and water immediately
after youngsters play on playground equipment made of the treated wood. Children
also should not eat while on the equipment, he said.
The safety agency will hold a public meeting next month to consider a proposed
ban on the arsenic-based preservative in playground equipment. Advocacy groups
petitioned for a ban in 2001.
Last year, preservative manufacturers agreed with the Environmental Protection
Agency to stop using the chemical in new wood playsets and other consumer
products by December 2003. An EPA report on the risks of the pressure-treated
wood is expected later this year.
To figure a child's cancer risk from treated playground equipment, researchers
considered factors including how much arsenic is released from wood, the amount
picked up on hands and transferred to the mouth and the time a child spends with
the equipment. Researchers said an average child visits playgrounds three times
each week.
The study found that for every 1 million kids exposed to the treated wood that
frequently during early childhood, two to 100 of them might develop lung or
bladder cancer later in life because of that exposure. This increase is in
addition to other risks of getting cancer.
The range of risk is large because of differing estimates of how likely arsenic
is to cause cancer, agency spokesman Ken Giles said. Some of the data came from
studies in Taiwan, where there are higher levels of arsenic in drinking water.
Lung cancer is the most common form of cancer; bladder cancer is more rare. The
greatest risk factor for both is smoking.
Mike Casey, a spokesman for the Environmental Working Group, one of the groups
seeking a ban, said the study supports their position that the treated wood is
dangerous.
Wood preservatives containing arsenic and dioxin have been increasingly targeted
as unsafe by advocacy groups. Those preservatives have been commonly used in
utility poles, wood decks and playgrounds.
The safety commission did not study other products because the ban petition only
involved playgrounds, Stratton said.
Arsenic, both manufactured and naturally occurring, is known to cause cancer,
but the preservative industry has said the arsenic-based preservative has never
been linked to skin disease or cancer in children and its wood is safe when used
properly.
The safety commission and the EPA are studying ways to coat treated wood with a
sealant to prevent arsenic from coming through.
EPA began requiring consumer warning labels on treated lumber containing arsenic
in 2001.
02/08/03 09:02 EST