But they were decimated. Arsenic is the main reason pressure-treated wood is under fire. Florida environmental officials are considering whether toxic sawdust from CCA-treated wood should be declared a hazardous waste, and a state lawmaker is seeking to ban its use on playgrounds. Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider warning labels for the wood. CCA-treated wood is used to build billions of board feet of decks, fences and boardwalks every year, yet few consumers know what's in it.
Recent studies show arsenic routinely leaches from the wood.
And reports continue to surface about people claiming illness or injury after working with it. The companies that make CCA have alternative products but have not marketed them aggressively in the United States. Scott Ramminger, president of the American Wood Preservers Institute, the industry trade group, also declined comment about Hickson's position. Post a message on the Community Forums.