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Salt Lake City, UT

Can this be used to build a retaining wall around my garden. I think the old stuff had nasties like arsenic but the new stuff may not. If it is not safe, what would you use to build up a 2 to 3 ft retaining wall?

4/1/2004 9:04:53 PM

Hobbiton New Zealand

Pressure treated timber contains CCA copper chrome and arsnic all doing different jobs to pretect the timber there is no harm at all in using it to build a retaining wall with cooper is the funguicide arsnic is there to kill bugs and the chrome is there to bind it all in place and keep it in the timber.
Most CCA producing companies will give CCA treated timber that is treated to a level of H4 or higher a in ground life span of 50 years.

4/1/2004 11:43:01 PM

Kenyon, Mn.

no!!!

4/2/2004 9:13:38 AM

I'm with Gordon... GO UTES!

Why not use those "castle blocks"? These would also give
you flexibility if you want to move it later on.

4/2/2004 10:13:13 AM

Bemidji, MN

If you plan on eating some of the wood fiber in the timbers, then the arsonic ones are a no no. Alot of hype over the arsenic treated ones for nothing. Is arsenioc bad for you...yes. But the small amounts in these timbers is harmless. Over years as the timbers breakdown/rot, some runoff occurs from them, but no big deal. if your concerned, you now have the option to buy NON ARSENIC treated timbers. In my area they are cheaper than the arsenic ones. Time will tell if they hold up as well though. It's funny, with all the poisonous chemicals added to our fruits/veggies in growing process(which many are cancer agents), people don't piss and moan about that, but a little chemicals in the wood we landscape with and they go crazy. Steve

4/2/2004 11:00:48 AM

Key West, FL

You could use the stones or the wood. I have both right next to my patch. Infact the wood is one of the borders of my patch.

4/2/2004 12:08:35 PM

ny

All treated arsenic lumber is unhealthy, in my area they have begun to remove playgrounds with it cause the soil surounding it has become toxic.

4/2/2004 6:04:02 PM

Puyallup, WA

I'll bet that the ppm is miniscule! Another EPA scam!

4/2/2004 9:24:16 PM

Oz

next year,,you might plant food plants,,,and you uptake some of that arsnic.
arsnic is a poison.it sticks around.
becides..it soaks out or breaks down and termites etc tear it up.use rock or steel.

4/3/2004 8:39:54 AM

Kenyon, Mn.

Pressure treated lumber is the "euphemistic" term for wood treated with extremely dangerous chemicals that are toxic to humans and the environment. Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) gives "treated" lumber a green color. The sole purpose of these chemicals is to kill living organisms such as insects or fungus. The toxicants easily migrate into soil, water, and the air we breathe, posing serious health risks to human life and the environment. The inorganic arsenicals are recognized for their oncogenicity (causing cancerous tumors), mutagenicity (causing genetic damage), fetotoxicity (killing the developing fetus), birth defects, and other reproductive effects. So weigh the odds, might as well toss a couple old telephone poles in the patch while your at it.

4/5/2004 7:35:48 AM