Despite the Government review into the usage of Copper Chrome Arsenate (CCA) as a timber treatment being completed over 10 years ago, there continues to be confusion about whether arsenic is still used in treated timber.

Arsenic is still used to treat some treated pine products but the 2005 review by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority (APVMA) into the safety of arsenic timber treatments did restrict its usage in certain applications.

It found there could possibly be a health risk for people, particularly children, who had frequent and close exposure to CCA-treated timber. As a result, the APVMA restricted the use of CCA-treated wood in uses such as playground equipment, garden furniture and decks as a precautionary measure.

However, there was no evidence to justify cancelling the use of CCA to treat timber for materials such as telegraph poles, fence posts, fence palings or structural timbers, with which frequent contact is unlikely. This is why CCA treated timber continues to be used in many domestic uses such as landscaping and structural framing of decks, fences etc.

The APVMA also changed the labelling requirements for CCA-treated wood. Now any CCA treated timber sold in Australia, must be labelled as being “Treated with Copper Chrome Arsenate”. This can appear on the treatment labels fixed to the ends of the timber or on the stamp brands along its length.

Some individual items of CCA treated timber do not need to be individually labelled, but the packaging must be marked. These include:

• fence palings
• battens
• droppers
• pieces less than 15 mm thick or with a cross section below 1500 mm2