Abstract
Disposal of discarded chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood in landfills raises concerns with respect to leaching of preservative compounds. When unweathered CCA-treated wood is leached using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), arsenic concentrations exceed the toxicity characteristic (TC) limit of 5 mg/L in most cases. The majority of discarded CCA-treated wood, however, results from demolition activities, where the wood has typically been subjected to weathering. Since preservatives do migrate from the wood during its normal use, leaching characteristics of weathered and aged CCA-treated wood may differ from unweathered wood. To evaluate this, CCA-treated wood removed from service after various degrees of weathering was collected from multiple sources and leached with the TCLP, the synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) and California's waste extraction test (WET). Five to seven individual pieces of wood were analyzed from each source. The average TCLP arsenic concentration for the 14 sources ranged from 3.2 to 13 mg/L. The average TCLP concentrations of the 100 wood pieces tested were 6.4, 5.9 and 3.2 mg/L for arsenic, copper and chromium, respectively. Overall, in 60 out of 100 samples tested by the TCLP, arsenic concentrations exceeded 5 mg/L (the TC regulatory value). SPLP leachate concentrations were similar to TCLP concentrations, although copper leached somewhat more with the TCLP. WET leachate concentrations were approximately a factor of 10 higher than TCLP concentrations. Discarded CCA-treated wood, even after exposure to years of weathering, often exceeds the TC limit for arsenic and without the current regulatory exemption would possibly require management as a TC hazardous waste in the US.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 105-113 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of Environmental Management |
| Volume | 75 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 1 2005 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Arsenic
- CCA
- Chromium
- Discarded treated wood
- SPLP
- TCLP
- WET
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Cite this
Preservative leaching from weathered CCA-treated wood. / Townsend, Timothy; Dubey, Brajesh; Tolaymat, Thabet; Solo-Gabriele, Helena M.
In: Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 75, No. 2, 01.04.2005, p. 105-113.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Preservative leaching from weathered CCA-treated wood
AU - Townsend, Timothy
AU - Dubey, Brajesh
AU - Tolaymat, Thabet
AU - Solo-Gabriele, Helena M
PY - 2005/4/1
Y1 - 2005/4/1
N2 - Disposal of discarded chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood in landfills raises concerns with respect to leaching of preservative compounds. When unweathered CCA-treated wood is leached using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), arsenic concentrations exceed the toxicity characteristic (TC) limit of 5 mg/L in most cases. The majority of discarded CCA-treated wood, however, results from demolition activities, where the wood has typically been subjected to weathering. Since preservatives do migrate from the wood during its normal use, leaching characteristics of weathered and aged CCA-treated wood may differ from unweathered wood. To evaluate this, CCA-treated wood removed from service after various degrees of weathering was collected from multiple sources and leached with the TCLP, the synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) and California's waste extraction test (WET). Five to seven individual pieces of wood were analyzed from each source. The average TCLP arsenic concentration for the 14 sources ranged from 3.2 to 13 mg/L. The average TCLP concentrations of the 100 wood pieces tested were 6.4, 5.9 and 3.2 mg/L for arsenic, copper and chromium, respectively. Overall, in 60 out of 100 samples tested by the TCLP, arsenic concentrations exceeded 5 mg/L (the TC regulatory value). SPLP leachate concentrations were similar to TCLP concentrations, although copper leached somewhat more with the TCLP. WET leachate concentrations were approximately a factor of 10 higher than TCLP concentrations. Discarded CCA-treated wood, even after exposure to years of weathering, often exceeds the TC limit for arsenic and without the current regulatory exemption would possibly require management as a TC hazardous waste in the US.
AB - Disposal of discarded chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood in landfills raises concerns with respect to leaching of preservative compounds. When unweathered CCA-treated wood is leached using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), arsenic concentrations exceed the toxicity characteristic (TC) limit of 5 mg/L in most cases. The majority of discarded CCA-treated wood, however, results from demolition activities, where the wood has typically been subjected to weathering. Since preservatives do migrate from the wood during its normal use, leaching characteristics of weathered and aged CCA-treated wood may differ from unweathered wood. To evaluate this, CCA-treated wood removed from service after various degrees of weathering was collected from multiple sources and leached with the TCLP, the synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) and California's waste extraction test (WET). Five to seven individual pieces of wood were analyzed from each source. The average TCLP arsenic concentration for the 14 sources ranged from 3.2 to 13 mg/L. The average TCLP concentrations of the 100 wood pieces tested were 6.4, 5.9 and 3.2 mg/L for arsenic, copper and chromium, respectively. Overall, in 60 out of 100 samples tested by the TCLP, arsenic concentrations exceeded 5 mg/L (the TC regulatory value). SPLP leachate concentrations were similar to TCLP concentrations, although copper leached somewhat more with the TCLP. WET leachate concentrations were approximately a factor of 10 higher than TCLP concentrations. Discarded CCA-treated wood, even after exposure to years of weathering, often exceeds the TC limit for arsenic and without the current regulatory exemption would possibly require management as a TC hazardous waste in the US.
KW - Arsenic
KW - CCA
KW - Chromium
KW - Discarded treated wood
KW - SPLP
KW - TCLP
KW - WET
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=14844317288&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=14844317288&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2004.11.009
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2004.11.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 15763153
AN - SCOPUS:14844317288
VL - 75
SP - 105
EP - 113
JO - Journal of Environmental Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Management
SN - 0301-4797
IS - 2
ER -