Limiting CCA-Treated Wood Risks

Don Sackett, president of Innov-X Systems, Boston, offers a solution to the challenging health threats posed by arsenic-treated wood that has been used for decades in outdoor playground swings, structures, decks and furniture. 

Manufacturers of CCA (chromated copper arsenate) reached a voluntary agreement with the EPA to end the manufacture of CCA-treated wood for most consumer applications by Dec. 31, 2003. However, CCA-treated wood can still pose potential cancer risks particularly for children, as arsenic can leach out of aging wood onto the surface or surrounding soil. 

"We need to make it a priority to identify sites for clean-up of pollutants and the CCA-wood for proper disposal.  This can be done with a simple 'point and shoot' Innov-X handheld XRF analyzer," Sackett says. "It identifies arsenic in soils or CCA-treated wood in two to three seconds and displays and stores confirming chemical analysis and spectrum. We need to use the tools we have
at our disposal to eliminate the risk to our children." 

At least 18 Boston playgrounds have arsenic-tainted soil, 10 with dangerously high levels of the carcinogen, according to a recent study by University of Massachusetts and Wellesley College researchers.

Sackett adds, "Major retailers of home and commercial wood products could face serious consequences if they sell CCA-treated wood for residential use, since only commercial use of CCA-treated wood is still allowed under the EPA ruling.  Distributors and retailers of residential and commercial wood grades need to confirm labeling of their treated wood. Innov-X handheld analyzers can readily confirm treated wood labeling at a warehouse, dock or in-store, resolving the problem."

As CCA-treated wood is being phased out for consumer use, the disposal
issues surrounding it are now coming to the surface, creating problems as
troublesome as the arsenic and chromium in the wood itself.  Eventually CCA
wood may come to a local landfill at the end of its life, making its
identification and proper disposal major priorities. 

Sackett continues, "Innov-X Systems offers a proven and simple solution to
the problem of identifying CCA-treated wood, with a portable XRF analyzer that can positively read traces of CCA.  Furthermore, it can identify treated
utility poles, railroad ties or other construction or demolition pieces that
may be headed for the wrong landfill."

The analyzer is an x-ray tube-based portable tool, making it ideal for use
at fields, landfills or recycling sites.  Unlike colorimetric techniques that
take longer and are not always definitive, XRF provides quantitative, fast,
simultaneous analysis of copper, chrome, arsenic and over 20 other metals in
seconds, in ppm, according to Innov-X.

With R&D and manufacturing facilities in the United States., Innov-X has offices in Europe (the Netherlands), Africa (Zambia) and Asia (Hong Kong).  It maintains sales and service alliances in Canada, the Middle East, South America and worldwide.

More company information is available at http://www.innov-xsys.com.