Treated Timber, Ticking Time-bomb The Need for a Precautionary Approach to the Use of Copper Chrome Arsenate (CCA)

“In less than 2 weeks, an average 5 year old playing on a CCA-treated playset would exceed the lifetime cancer risk considered acceptable under [US] federal pesticide law”. (Sharp and Walker, 2001: 2) “I’ve worked with it every day for 25 years. I don’t worry about it. I mean, I don’t wash my hands before I eat my sandwich or anything” (Carpenter (name unknown) of Jolly Jumbuk Playsets, Pers. Comm., 8/11/04) “If timber workers are advised to wear gloves when handling the timber, where are the gloves for the children playing on the play equipment or in the sandpit?” (Loveridge, K., Croydon Conservation Society, Pers. Comm., 7/11/04). “The soft green colour of the timber [playsets] blends in to the natural garden and backyard settings.” (Jolly Jumbuk, 2000). “An excess risk of leukaemia amongst millwrights probably is associated with exposure to various components used in wood preservation