Arsenic in Children’s Saliva and Urine: Study says CCA Playgrounds Not to Blame

Our Mission: We ignite the movement that empowers parents to protect children from harmful chemicals. Donate »

Blog

Arsenic in Children’s Saliva and Urine: Study says CCA Playgrounds Not to Blame

Jennifer Lance, EcoChildsPlay.com

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I have always enjoyed the aesthetics of a wooden playground over metal and plastic play structures, but in order for the wood to hold up to the elements, it is treated with chemicals that are toxic. The Safe Playgrounds Project explains:

Arsenic-treated wood has been used to build many outdoor structures such as decks, picnic tables and play equipment. Chromated-copper arsenate (CCA) was widely used over the last thirty years as an insecticide and preservative in pressure-treating wood for outdoor structures. Of the 3 chemicals (arsenic, copper and chromium), arsenic is considered the most toxic.

Arsenic causes cancer and other serious health risks. Arsenic is a far more potent skin, bladder, and lung carcinogen than previously thought. It is also linked to suppression of the immune system, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Although the EPA and wood products industry has mutually agreed to phase out CCA lumber in residential applications, this toxic lumber remains in our homes and playgrounds. Pressure-treated lumber often has a greenish tinge to it from the chemicals injected into it to preserve the wood.

Unfortunately, many older playgrounds still exist and the CPSC has refused to completely ban CCA lumber, even though CPSC staff scientists found that some children may face an increased risk of developing lung or bladder cancer from playground equipment made from CCA wood.

Children come in contact with arsenic residue from hand to the mouth after playing on CCA pressure-treated wood playground equipment. The Environmental Working Group reports:

We know that arsenic in drinking water is dangerous for children, but what we found was that the arsenic in lumber is an even greater risk. In less than two weeks, an average five-year-old playing on an arsenic-treated playset would exceed the lifetime cancer risk considered acceptable under federal pesticide law.

A new study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology contradicts these findings. According to the study’s abstract:

Children may be exposed to arsenic during contact with structures treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). A high frequency of hand-to-mouth activity may increase their risk of ingesting arsenic. Previous work showed that arsenic concentrations in the hand-wash samples of children playing on CCA playgrounds were four times higher than those playing on non-CCA playgrounds. It is not clear whether playing on CCA playgrounds results in elevated overall exposure to arsenic. The objective of this study was to perform arsenic biomonitoring in children to determine whether playing on CCA-treated playgrounds substantially contributes to their overall exposure to arsenic. One hundred and twenty five saliva samples from 61 children and 101 urine samples from 45 children were collected after children played on 8 CCA and 8 non-CCA playgrounds. Arsenic speciation analysis was conducted using high performance liquid chromatography combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The arsenic species detected in the urine and saliva samples from children playing on CCA and non-CCA playgrounds were similar. These results show that there is no significant difference in the concentration or speciation of arsenic between the samples from children playing on CCA and non-CCA playgrounds. Contact with CCA playgrounds is not likely to significantly contribute to the overall arsenic exposure in children; other sources such as dietary arsenic may be a main contributor to their overall exposure.

It is scary to consider dietary arsenic is to blame for children’s exposure, and I know that it occurs naturally in our local water. Although this study found “no significant difference” between CCA and non-CCA playgrounds, I still do not want to risk my children playing on these toxic structures. Furthermore, pressure-treated lumber manufacturing sites are huge sources of pollution and some are classified as superfund sites.

I’d like to see a more comprehensive, long-term study completed with a larger sampling, and I hope the results of this study are not used to avoid protecting our children from pressure-treated lumber. Hopefully, the results will cause further investigation of the dietary sources, which I suspect could be from CCA lumber leaching into drinking water and agricultural irrigation sources.

Don't Miss the Twitter Party This Thursday 6 PM PDT: The Great (Safe) Outdoors!

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of
Healthy Child Healthy World.

image courtesy of mohd fahmi / CC BY-SA 2.0

Posted by Janelle on 07/28/2010 at 09:50 AM

Thanks for your detailed and thoughtful comment, Kevin! You’ve really added a lot of value to this post.

Posted by Kevin Bailey on 07/25/2010 at 11:07 AM

“I hope the results of this study are not used to avoid protecting our children from pressure treated lumber.”

I could not agree more and I fear that may be the outcome unless parents take the added step to dig into this issue a little deeper. Under peer review this study received two criticisms. First, it ignores arsenic uptake from CCA though the environment. It is well known that CCA leaches from wood to the soil and from there to ground water. Children playing in or on the soil beneath CCA treated wood receive far greater exposure than children in contact only with play set strictures, and we all receive greater exposure to that arsenic though our drinking water. Second, this study was restricted to seven year old children. It is well known that age plays a critical role here regarding both body weight and behavior. As with any poison, it takes far less to do overall harm to a 35 pound child than it takes to harm a 90 pound child. More importantly however, the danger from CCA is due to ingestion. Children touch the wood picking the agent up on their hands, and from their hand it is ingested, either because they put their hands in their mouths, suck their thumb, eat without washing, etc. This manner of ingestion is far more likely to occur with 2 and 3 year old children than 7 year olds. In combination with their lower body weight very young children are at much greater risk than this study suggests.

Not mentioned, neither in the original study nor in peer review, is the role of climate. Previous research has found that warmer climates accelerate the migration of arsenic from the wood to its surface making it more available for contact. Also, children in warmer climates spend more overall time in playgrounds than children in colder climates thus increasing their exposure. While this study found insignificant increases in arsenic levels from CCA, it was done in Edmonton. I would not expect those same results to be found in my location for instance in southwest New Mexico. Also neglected from control, or at least from mention, was the age of the wood. As described earlier, CCA leaches from the wood to the soil. After about 20 years enough of it has leeched out that it no longer provides an effective barrier against rot and insect invasion, that’s why the industry gave it a 20 year warranty. Many CCA treated playgrounds are now well into or past their 20 year life cycle, and therefore the amount of CCA remaining in the wood is at least questionable. If this study was performed in a 25 or 30 year old playground its results are essentially meaningless.

Still, the basic premise that parents should encourage their children to play outside despite the risk from CCA ought not be excluded from consideration. Where is the greater risk, from CCA or lack of exercise? In the end this remains a judgement call based on your particular child, his/her age, your location, climate, the age of the playground, etc. What remains without question however, for those parents who don’t care to roll the dice with their kids health, stay away from CCA treated playgrounds. And when your child does encounter these structure, make sure they wash their hands afterward with soap and water. The alcohol based disinfects in a bottle everyone is carrying around these days are completely ineffective where CCA is concerned.

More comments: