A report released by New Zealand’s timber industry claims that CCA-treated wood does not pose a significant health risk to people.
The document, compiled by Australian and New Zealand toxicologists, says cancer risk estimates for CCA exposure are worst-case hypothetical estimates and the true risk at low dose “may be close to zero”.
It also claims background arsenic exposures from food and water sources are significantly higher than from estimated CCA exposure.
New Zealand’s Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) said it would need to reassess CCA as a timber treatment before it could ban the chemical. However, ERMA said there was not sufficient evidence to warrant the substance being reassessed.
