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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Railroad ties and gardens

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  • From: Marimike6@cs.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Railroad ties and gardens
  • Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 16:19:20 EDT

LBSaltzman says

>This paragraph bothers me.

"Some organic gardening publications have claimed that these garden uses are
unsafe. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of
CCA-treated wood for gardens. (Tests have confirmed that arsenic does not
leach
from timbers used in gardens. Soil was collected from near timbers that had
been
place from 6 months to 9 years.)"

It gives me the willies too. A couple of years ago we had a death in NC from
someone standing to close to a drum where he was burning old pieces of
pressure treated. There's more arsenic in that wood than you would like to
think
about.

And it may well be that there is more danger to creosoted timber than I
realize. But I don't think it has been demonstrated yet that it poses a
hazard to
human health. Maybe I'm wrong in that.

Meanwhile I won''t eat any. But I wouldn't mind picking up and stacking
railroad ties. I would wear a mask when sawing them. And I'd wash my hands
before
lunch.




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