There is so much we don't know about arsenic. Elswood requested the soils at Baby Gator be tested two weeks ago. The tests were done by UF's Environmental Health and Safety office. Pressure-treated wood is injected with a pesticide called CCA, containing copper, chromium and arsenic. Chromium and arsenic are highly toxic and known to cause cancer.
New studies show more arsenic is leaching from the wood than previously thought.
Pine said he didn't want to sound nonchalant. But the odds of somebody getting hurt removing the equipment at Baby Gator are greater than a child getting cancer from arsenic exposure, he said. CCA is used for several billion board feet of new wood every year. Elswood said she sent a letter out to parents about the playground equipment Wednesday afternoon. She said the old equipment should be gone within a couple of weeks and new equipment in place within a couple of months.