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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 21:42:55 -0300
From: "Brian C. Bradley" <ax876@chebucto.ns.ca>
To: Kevin Chisholm <kchishol@fox.nstn.ca>
cc: sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: Re: Toxic Food Additives
Dear Kevin,
On Wed, 7 Apr 1999, Kevin Chisholm wrote:
> Dear Brian
>
> Thanks for your note on PTW...
> 1: What is the arsenic level in the berries, and how does it compare with
> permissable levels, or background levels?
Arsenic, according to one of the better known authorities on toxicology
(and as taught in all medical schools), is classified as a non-threshold
toxin which means there is a good chance of adverse health effects at any
level of exposure. The fact that "background levels" have grown over the
decades because of the lack of information on the rates of leaching from
PTW, still does not change its classification as a "non-threshold toxin"
(refer to the text by Amdur, Mary O., Doull, John and Klaassen, Curtis D.
(1991) 'Major Toxic Metals with Multiple Effects: Arsenic' in Casarett and
Doull's TOXICOLOGY: The Basic Science of Poisons, 4th ed., Toronto:
Pergamon Press, pp. 629-633)
> 2: You didn't include your Web Site URL, so we could read your posting!! :-( Whats
> the URL for your site?
>
I will try and attached a list of the facts and their sources to my next
msg. My URL had to be re-modeled due to storage limitations. I'll see what
I can do to set it up again.
> Kindest regards,
>
> Kevin Chisholm
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 22:03:51 -0300 (ADT)
From: "Brian C. Bradley" <ax876@chebucto.ns.ca>
To: Kevin Chisholm <kchishol@fox.nstn.ca>
cc: sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca
Subject: Re: Toxic Food Additives
[. . .]
FACTS:
- solutions used in the manufacture of "pressure-treated" (CCA) wood
contain more than 18% arsenic (Cox, 1991)
- soil samples taken from beneath CCA wood decks contained up to 80 times
more arsenic than surrounding soil, and as much as 35 times the legal
limit for arsenic in soil (Long, 1997)
- arsenic is a known toxin and carcinogen (cancer-causing agent, ref. Chen
& Wang, 1990)
- in 1990 researchers from Health Canada determined that arsenic could be
obtained from "pressure-treated" wood simply by touching it (Galarneau et
al., 1990)
- research has shown that arsenic is leached from "pressure-treated" wood
by rain and the organic acids found naturally in the soil (Long & McGrath,
1994; and Weis, et al., 1991)
- 20th century problems involving the effects of pesticides will become
the 21st century groundwater pollution problem and will jeopardize the
safety of its citizens' food (Goldstein, 1990, p. 229)
- a college student, after fighting a fire on a deck made from
"pressure-treated" wood, fell into a coma the next day and died
("Letters", Apr., 1994)
- a worker has won a $450,000 (US) lawsuit against a "pressure-treated"
wood manufacture as a result of developing neuropathy in his legs from
working with this product (Clement v. Wyckoff, 1990)
- research has shown that the amount of arsenic leached from a 7-foot
length of "pressure-treated" 2 x 4, in one week is enough to kill a rat
(Warner and Solomon, 1990)
- ACQ (ammoniacal copper quaternary) compound contains no chromium and no
arsenic in its formulation, but imparts to wood the same long service life
that consumers have come to expect from CCA-treated wood products (Bailey,
1997)
- Leaching of arsenic from decks made of CCA-treated wood, produced soil
levels 20.5 times the concentration of controls for coated decks and 31.4
times the arsenic concentration for uncoated decks (Jun, 1997)
- Research in the development and use of biological controls has been
quietly going on in the USA and Canada for a little over 100 years
(Goldstein, 1990, p. 149)
(Portion of Reference Bibliography)
Amdur, Mary O., Doull, John and Klaassen, Curtis D. (1991) `Major Toxic
Metals with Multiple Effects: Arsenic' in Casarett and Doull's TOXICOLOGY: The
Basic Science of Poisons, 4th ed., Toronto: Pergamon Press, pp. 629-633.
Bradley, Brian (1996) "Toxic Playgrounds: Lethal Pressure Treated Wood"
Environmental News Letter Advancing Community Empowerment (E.N.L.A.C.E.),
1(2), pp. 1, 4 & 5.
Carson, Rachel (1962) SILENT SPRING, Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Chen, Chien-Jen and Wang, Chih-Jen (1990) "Ecological Correlation between
Arsenic Level in Well Water and Age-Adjusted Mortality from Malignant
Neoplasms" Cancer Research, 50(17), Sep. 1, pp. 5470-5474.
Clement v. Wyckoff Co. (1990) Wash Superior Court, King County, No.
87-2-13888-7, judgment entered 9/13/90.
Cox, Caroline (1991) "Chromated Copper Arsenate", Journal of Pesticide
Reform, Spring , pp. 19-23
Evans, Fred G. (1987) "Leaching from CCA - Impregnated wood to food,
drinking-water and silage, The International Working Group on Wood
Preservation, Document No.: IRG/WP/3433.
Fauteux, Andr (1992b) "Going organic to avoid becoming a statistic"
Habitabec, Montreal, 26 juin, p. 4.
Ferrara, Mike (1992) "Spring Soil Spectacular" (April), Organic
Gardening, 39(4), pp. 26-37 (see p.27).
Galarneau, D., Riedel, D., Harrison, J., Gregoire, D.C. and Bertrand, N.
(1990) "Residues of Arsenic, Chromium and Copper on and Near Outdoor
Structures Built of Wood Treated with `CCA' Type Preservatives",
American Chemical Society (Division of Environmental Chemistry), Aug.
26-31.
Goldsein, Joan (1990) DEMANDING CLEAN FOOD AND WATER, The Fight for a
Basic Human Right, New York: Plenum Press, 271 p.
Henningsson, Byorn and Carlsson, Birgit (1984) "Leaching of arsenic,
copper and chrome from preservative-treated timber in playground
equipment" The International Research Group of Wood Preservation,
Document No. IRG/WP/3149.
Howard, Robert (1992/1993) "Pressure-treated wood: It lasts, but is it
safe-" Canadian Gardening, Dec/Jan, pp. 9 -10.
Huling et al., (1995) "Wood Preserving Waste Contaminated Soil; Treatment
and Toxicity Response" in Bioremediation of Recalcitrant Organics, 3(7):
101-109.
Long, Cheryl (1997) "Arsenic again shown to leach from pressure treated
wood" Organic Gardening, Apr., 44(4), pp. 18, 20.
Long, Cheryl (1994) "Will Texas now go organic-" Organic Gardening,
Sep/Oct., 41(7), p. 20.
Long, Cheryl and McGrath, Mike (1994) "Treated Wood", Organic Gardening,
Jan., 41(1), pp. 71-74.
Moore, Steven (1993). "Toxic Lumber" Earthkeeper, 4(1), pp.16-19. Office
of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, "Arsenic in Drinking Water",
California Environmental Protection Agency, April 1992.
Peters, H.A., Croft, W.A., Woolson, E.A., Darcey, B.A., and Olson, M.A.
(1984) "Seasonal Arsenic Exposure from Burning
Chromium-Copper-Arsenate-Treated Wood, Journal of the American Medical
Association, May 11, 251(18), pp. 2393-2396.
Raloff, Janet (1992) "Arsenic in Water - Bigger Cancer Threat", Science
News, Apr. 18, p. 253.
Repin, Raynald (1990) "Mistreated Wood", Protect Yourself, June, pp.
36-43.
Stilwell, (1997) "Contamination of Soil with Copper, Chromium, and
Arsenic Under Decks Built from Pressure Treated Wood", Bulletin of
Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 58, pp. 22-28.
The Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia, PA. (1992) "Tracing arsenic
through the Chesapeake Bay", Environmental Research, 2(1), Fall.
Tyrrell, Elaine A. (1990) "Project on Playground Equipment - Transmittal
of Estimate of Risk of Skin Cancer from Dislodgeable Arsenic on Pressure
Warner, J.E. and Solomon, K.R. (1990) "Acidity as a Factor in Leaching of
Copper, Chromium and Arsenic from CCA-Treated Dimension Lumber",
Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (9), pp. 1331-1337.
Weis, Judith (1995) "Pressure-treated wood toxic effects in the marine
environment" Sierra Club National Coastal Issues Paper No. 2
Weis, Judith S. and Weis, Peddrick (1994) "Effects of contaminants from
chromated copper arsenate-treated lumber on benthos." Archives of
Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 26, pp. 103-109.
Weis, Peddrick, Weis, Judith S. and Proctor, T. (1993) "Copper, chromium
and arsenic in sediments adjacent to wood treated with chromated copper
arsenate." Estuar. Coast/Shelf Sci., 36, pp. 71-79.
Weis, J.S. and Weis, P. (1992) "Transfer of contaminants from CCA-treated
lumber to aquatic biota" J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 161, pp. 189-199.
Weis, Peddrick, Weis, Judith S. and Coohill, Lisa M. (1991) "Toxicity to
estuarine organisms of leachates from chromated copper arsenate treated
wood." Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 22, pp.
118-124.
Weis, Judith (1992) "NPS from treated wood structures in the Coastal
Environment", EPA Nonpoint News-Notes, 20: 9-10.
Wilson, Alex (1997) "Disposal: The Achilles' Heel of CCA-Treated Wood"
Environmental Building News, 6(3), pp. 1, 10-13.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 19:49:29 -0300
From: Kevin Chisholm <kchishol@fox.nstn.ca>
Dear Brian
> ...del...
> > Thanks for your note on PTW...
> > 1: What is the arsenic level in the berries, and how does it compare with
> > permissable levels, or background levels?
> Arsenic, according to one of the better known authorities on toxicology
> (and as taught in all medical schools), is classified as a non-threshold
> toxin which means there is a good chance of adverse health effects at any
> level of exposure.
This is potentially very significant for many areas in Nova Scotia. The
Halifax-Goldenville rock formations are known for their high presence of arsenic, in the
form or arsenopyrite. In the Halifax area, the Tangier, Lake Charlotte, Lawrencetown,
Montague, Waverly, Oldham, and Enfield areas had gold mines in the past, and usually
associated with the gold deposits is the arsenopyrite. What level of arsenic would be
permissable in ground sourced drnking water?
> The fact that "background levels" have grown over the
> decades because of the lack of information on the rates of leaching from
> PTW, still does not change its classification as a "non-threshold toxin"
> (refer to the text by Amdur, Mary O., Doull, John and Klaassen, Curtis D.
> (1991) 'Major Toxic Metals with Multiple Effects: Arsenic' in Casarett and
> Doull's TOXICOLOGY: The Basic Science of Poisons, 4th ed., Toronto:
> Pergamon Press, pp. 629-633)
PTW is a poor choice of acronyms, in that the wood could have been pressure treated
with anything. Chromated Copper Arsenate, or CCA, does indeed seem to be very close to a
"proven problem". Is it at a "level of prooven-ness" such that, for example, it should
be banned from applications where direct human contact is likely?.... such areas could
be handrails, picnic tables, outside seating, boardwalk surfaces, and playground
equipment, etc.
A "second level of containment" would be where indirect human contact was likely. ....
such areas could include garden area, (as per your blueberry example), watershed areas.
How does the CCA problem compare in significance to the "arsenic in the water supply"
problem? With a given amount of resources, where would it be best to deploy them? On CCA
control, or on Water Supply improvements?
Kindest regards,
Kevin Chisholm
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