Hi,
I’m extremely stressed about my potential exposure to treated wood, specifically the type known as CCA which stands for copper, chromium and arsenic.
I work a lot with wood, and a few years ago when I first started out I used old pallet wood to practice on.
Before I knew of the dangers of wood dust and any of the above chemicals in treated wood (and how to differentiate safe pallets from non safe ones); I’d be cutting them up, sanding and practicing on them.
I also remember doing this inside and without a mask!
I haven’t had massive exposure or anything. It’s not like I was in there sanding all day with no mask, And I did learn all the safety precautions with masks and protection shortly afterward; but I’ve inevitably Had some exposure.
CCA wood was banned here in the U.K. around 2006 due to chromium and arsenic being carcinogenic.
Touching it, breathing in the dust, eating off of the surfaces or burning was all deemed dangerous for that reason, and so wood today instead omits these metals when treating.
Before then, the wood was used in picnic tables, kids play sets, fences, and basically any outdoor application.
I can’t remember exactly whether any of the pallets I used were CCA treated.
This was in 2016, and I’d picked up pallets I found but can’t remember how old they were.
Although I wouldn’t class my exposure as chronic (considering it may only have been in total a couple of weeks without protection in total across my several years of woodworking) I’m extremely Stressed about my exposure to this stuff.
I’ve convinced myself that I’ve breathed in the dust, touched it, touched it and then eaten food etc.
I don’t know how much exposure is enough to cause cancer, but I’m worried that what I’ve done was enough.
The cancer doesn’t show (whether it be liver, bladder, lung or skin) for a couple of decades.
I’m 23 now and feel like I’m a ticking time bomb.
Then there are other things like our back gate, which I touch to open every day, that when I think of it is definitely old enough to be in the period of CCA usage!
We’re apparently exposed To these metals everyday in small amounts, and any research I could find on it talks of chronic exposure causing cancer; but what’s chronic? I have no idea whether my exposure was enough, or how much of that wood I used will have been CCA.
I even remember having a fire and burning some of it, which is apparently the worst!
Chromium and arsenic is in cigarettes as well, so people smokers inhale it every day and it’s only chronic exposure to smoking of years that causes cancer generally, so that was somewhat reassuring, but then I realised I hadn’t considered that the wood I used and dust I potentially Inhaled likely had it in in way higher amounts than cigarettes.
Not to mention the damn fence that I touch everyday - I mean that has to be chronic exposure.
Has anyone else worried about this before? It’s really eating away at me and I feel like I’ve caused an inevitable death.
Many thanks.
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