APVMA Review

A review of CCA has been carried out by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA). APVMA is the national registration authority for CCA. It decides whether CCA is safe to use, whether its use and disposal are safe for the environment, and what warnings and instructions should be put on the label of CCA products. The review has been undertaken ‘because of public health concerns primarily about potential exposure of children to arsenic from close contact with treated timber surfaces. The APVMA was also concerned about the potential for environmental effects arising from the use of the timber treatment products’ (APVMA, 2003c).

Before the draft review was finalised, the APVMA sent out a press release to ‘put industry on notice that it intends to stop the use of Copper Chrome Arsenate (CCA) as a timber treatment in certain domestic situations’, and stating intentions to prohibit the use of CCA-treated wood in decking and children's playground equipment (APVMA, 2003d).