[Rhodes22-list] pressure treated lumber

[brad haslett]

 Here is the copy from Popular Mechanics.  I just came
from Home Depot and their "experts" didn't know
anything about it.  The rumors among the builder crowd
is that the new product is not as effective and more
expensive.
 
 
 
 
The wood preservative industry recently volunteered to
remove chromated copper arsenate from pressure-treated
lumber by December 31, 2003. Other preservative
treatments will take its place, giving treated
lumber--at least theoretically, anyway--the same
degree of resistance to degradation from soil contact
and weathering. We won't revisit that issue other than
to say that the wood preservative industry came under
fire recently from environmentalists and federal
environmental officials.

Around the nation soil samples adjacent to
pressure-treated lumber showed--in some
cases--elevated levels of arsenic (a component in the
chromated copper arsenate preservative). The industry
fired back with information regarding naturally
occurring levels of soil arsenic and acceptable levels
of man-made arsenic. Its opponents did the same, in
what has now become the familiar scenario of one
environmental theory battling another.

I count myself in favor of continued use of chromated
copper arsenate preservative as an effective means of
reducing the rate at which wood degrades. Other
carpenters I know--not to mention homeowners--feel
just as strongly that the stuff should be banned.

For the industry's explanation on the transition to
other treatment methods, and its view on all of this,
get its brochure, Publication 301. It's a brief read
on the topic but well written. I say that because
regardless of where I stand on an issue, I always opt
for more information rather than less.

Publication 301 is free. Contact the Southern Forest
Products Assn., P.O. Box 641700, Kenner, LA 70064. You
can also get more information at the association's Web
site: www.southernpine.com.--Roy Berendsohn
 


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