EPA Releases Preliminary CCA Report

Rebekah A. Hall

Washington, D.C. –- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released a draft report concluding that children with frequent contact to chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treaded wood increased their risk of developing cancer.

The Draft Preliminary Risk Assessment is preliminary and will be reviewed by a scientific advisory panel next month. However, Richard Wiles, the senior vice president of the nonprofit organization, Environmental Working Group (EWG), told news sources that while the report is "preliminary," he does not expect it to change significantly.

Many of the country’s playground sets are made of CCA wood, and while no specific cancer cases have been linked to treated wood, the EPA found that 90 percent children in repeated contact with CCA wood increase their cancer risk to greater than one in 1 million.

Opposing the EPA’s findings is the Wood Preservative Science Council (WPSC), Washington, D.C., that believes the assessment does not reflect the best scientific information. "The study fails to appropriately consider the wealth of sound science, which has supported the safe use of CCA pressure treated wood over the past 70 years, and continues to support its safety," the WPSC stated.