ARSENIC IN WOOD — DANGERS PERSIST

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a report last year on the safety of pressure-treated lumber, they acknowledged the danger of arsenic, a poison and carcinogen, which is used widely in wood preservatives like chromated copper arsenate (CCA). They announced a phase-out of some uses of the preservative by the end of 2003.

RECYCLING CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS

With $100 billion in new construction each year in the United States, and $126 billion in renovations, the recovery of materials from construction and demolition (C&D) has important economic and environmental implications.

To the extent that the debris from construction and demolition can be reused or recycled rather than thrown away, demand for virgin resources is reduced, the embedded energy in these materials is recaptured, and the need for increasingly limited landfill space is reduced.

More Environment

Library : more Green Design and Building

Environment Last Week

Environment Department Archive