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Pentachlorophenol (penta), a popular wood preservative, is currently banned in 26 countries around the world. |
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Of the approximately 120 million utility poles currently in service in the United States about 36 million have been treated with penta. |
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The Environmental Protection Agency has calculated that children face a 220 times increase in the risk of cancer from exposure to soil contaminated with penta leaching out of utility poles.
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This exposure alone accounts for at least 17,000 cases of cancer among children.
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In addition, two children born every day are destined to a fate of cancer from just this exposure to penta. |
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In July 2007, New Jersey banned the manufacture, sale, use, and burning of creosote and creosote-treated wood products anywhere in the state. However, railways, which use creosote-treated ties on rail lines, and utilities, which use creosote-treated power poles, are exempt from the provisions of this bill. |
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A representative weekly surcharge for diesel fuel for treating timber poles with pentachlorophenol (penta) is $1.56 per cubic foot ($1326.00 per truck load). Typically, the mixture for penta is approximately 4% penta to 96% diesel. Consider that one gallon of mixture treats each cubic foot of wood and a single Class 4, 40 foot pole has 21.2 cubic feet of wood. |
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Arsenic is a component of chromated copper arsenate (CCA), a wood preserving pesticide that is registered for use by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and widely used in the manufacture of utility poles. |
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Currently, the wood treatment industry is responsible for the import of more than 30 million pounds of pure arsenic into the U.S. each year. Ultimately, the vast majority of this will end up in local landfills where it can leach into soil and local waterways. |
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CCA-treated wood poses up to a 20 times greater risk for groundwater contamination than alternative products. |
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Studies show, the potential human health risk from sil contamination for CCA-treated wood is between 2,000 and 20,000 times higher. |
