Toad Lickers & Tteated Lumber

(Continued from page 3 5 ) found the psychedelic toad. It turned out to be a different species from a different part of the world. But by then, the media had done their damage. (Don't ask me for the guilty toad's true identity. We don't need any hallucinating building supply dealers.)

The CCA issue is rarher like the toad licking fad in that neither was based on hard data, and both have been driven by the press, not by the data. For example, a recent article from l Florida newspaper about CCA treated wood is typical of much that has been published. It begins, ..Silent Killer. Arsenic poisoning often takes months or years to become lethal or debilitating. It can be easily misdiagnosed. Continued exposure can be fatal." Okay, the reporter probably read an article on arsenic in an encyclopedia. But where is the evidence that CCA is as danserous as certain other forms of arsenic? Arsenic poisoniig has symptoms. Does anybody with a CCA deck show symp- toms? Has any house with CCA treated plates over its foundation harmed anyone? If CCA really is dangerous, why is the EPA not requiring all CCA decks and fences to be torn down immediately?

As with the African bees, continued exposure can be fatal. But what's the point? Is the attack on CCA useful information to protect the public, or only a way of increasing a newspaper's or TV network's revenue?

As part of this negative publicity about CCA, some have suggested that preservatives containing arsenic be replaced with "safer alternatives" that are arsenic free. Most alternatives are less proven and more expensive than CCA, and if history is any guide, it will only be a matter of time before they, too, come under attack for the copper they contain.

Homicides, suicides, auto accidents and malnutrition (causes of death about which something actuallv can be done) are together responsible for about IOO,OOO ieaths in the U.S. per year. But where are the data on the dangers of CCA? USA Today has reported that testing of the health risks of CCA products used for playground equipment, decks, fences and other residential uses will cease if the present plan is implemented. Thus, the public will never know if there were any real risks in a product that has apparently served the public well for half a century.

A recent anti-CCA press release stated that swabs from wipe tests on CCA treated lumber had nearly 25 times the allowable amount of arsenic that the EpA had recommended for drinking water. So what? Is Junior really going to sit there day after day licking his swing ser? Has deck lick- ing become the "designer toxin for today's sophisticated society"? Is Junior going to eat enough sand from under his CCA treated swing set to be harmed by any arsenic the sand might contain? He'd be dead from eating sand first.

So how plausible is a scenario like the following?:

Parent (to child on playground): "Junior, stop that! This is the third bucket of sand you've eaten this morning!"

Junior: "Burpl"

Some time after the killer bee and toad licker flap, the press reported that a group of scientists had tested beefsteaks grilled over a charcoal fire and found that the steaks contained carcinogens. Will there now be a movement to outlaw charcoal briquettes? Probably, if attitudes don't change. Despite their findings, however, the scientists are reported to have eaten the steaks. They were realists.

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EXHIBITORS (1) Linda PriddY & Noel Penninoton at recent BMA show. (2) John Canoll,-Curtis Crane, Duffy Waters. (3) Jerry Allshouse, Tammi Bone, Ron Daniels, Tim Johnston, Sue Robinson, Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Jensen. (4) Guy Burk, Pete Lindsay. (5) Steve Lillard, Mike Tucker, Doug Smith, St'eve Earlv. (6) Jim Holmes, Mike French, Dwain Duhqbn, James Davis. (7) Tracy Daniels, Bill-Richardson. (8) John Russell, Tracy Allen. (9) Mark Ritz, Jerry Ritz. (See p. 48 for more Photos)

Crawl Space Access Doors