Feds Say No to Treated Lumber Chemical

Wood used to build decks or play structures is treated with chemicals to keep the wood
from rotting. Some of these chemicals caused health concerns and were phased out of the
market. But now one company wants to use a chemical that brings up more health
concerns. Mark Brush reports the EPA has rejected the company’s first bid:

Transcript

Wood used to build decks or play structures is treated with chemicals to keep the wood
from rotting. Some of these chemicals caused health concerns and were phased out of the
market. But now one company wants to use a chemical that brings up more health
concerns. Mark Brush reports the EPA has rejected the company’s first bid:


The Forest Products Research Lab asked the EPA to approve the use of acid copper
chromate as a wood preservative, but the preservative contains a chemical known to
increase the risk of cancer when it’s inhaled.


Jim Jones is the Director of the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs. He says it’s mostly
a risk to workers who treat the wood in the factory, but it can also cause rashes on people
who handle the wood:


“Let’s say, for example, you work in a retail outlet and you’re involved in sort of moving
it around or you build a deck in the backyard or fencing. For those individuals they run
some risk of dermal sensitization.”


Jones says the risk is low. Only about 2 out of one hundred people are sensitive to the
exposure, but he says the risk to workers and consumers was high enough for the EPA to
reject the company’s bid.


For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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Cleanup of Toxic Sites in Limbo

Monsanto has agreed to clean up one contaminated site of hundreds that need to be cleaned up. The toxic site cleanups have been in limbo because of a recent bankruptcy. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Weber explains:

Transcript

Monsanto has agreed to clean up one contaminated site of hundreds that need to be cleaned up.
The toxic site cleanups have been in limbo because of a recent bankruptcy. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Tom Weber reports:


Monsanto contaminated this one site in southern Illinois with dioxins, PCB’s and other toxic
chemicals for 40 years.


Legal questions arose because Monsanto created a company called Solutia in 1997. Solutia took
responsibility for Monsanto’s chemical clean ups. But Solutia went bankrupt last year. And it
refused to clean any of the 300 sites across the country while in bankruptcy.


Glenn Ruskin is a Solutia spokesman. He says Solutia can’t clean up the site, but Monsanto’s
decision to do so offers hope for people who live at the other sites.


“It just indicates that there are parties out there who are still in existence that are willing and able
to do that clean up.”


The matter is even more complex because much of Monsanto was bought by Pharmacia. Pfizer
then bought Pharmacia.


A bankruptcy judge will ultimately decide who has to clean which sites.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tom Weber.

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