Pressure-treated wood used to build playgrounds, decks, and docks is leaking arsenic at unsafe levels, according to an investigation by the St. Petersburg Times. The arsenic comes from a pesticide applied to the lumber to protect it from termites and rot. Florida officials say the arsenic is leaking at levels dozens to hundreds of times higher than those considered safe, and in some cases, they are concerned that arsenic may be seeping into drinking water. Although the pressure-treated wood is banned in Switzerland, Vietnam, and Indonesia, and heavily regulated in other countries, Scott Ramminger, president of the American Wood Preservers Institute, says the product is “perfectly safe.”
