Hidden Child Danger: Arsenic-Treated Playground Equipment
by Jennifer Chait, 07/15/10
Playground fun is a must have experience of summer. However, your child’s fun may be secretly affected if he’s playing on arsenic-treated playground equipment. From the 1970’s until 2003, a lot of the wood for playground equipment, decks, picnic benches and more, was pressure-treated with a preservative containing toxic arsenic.
Arsenic exposure is linked to oodles of awfully un-fun stuff like nerve damage, immune diseases, reproductive hazards, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, changes in hormone function and skin, bladder, liver and lung cancers. Arsenic exposure also disrupts adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which is vital for normal body functions and can result in a weakened immune system along with weak liver function and bowel disease. Worse, while arsenic may leave your body, it may stick around instead. Arsenic has been known to remain in the body where it’s stored and then transported around your system, eventually affecting internal organs and your hair, nails, and skin.
