Abstract
The wood preservative CCA has been applied widely in Japan since about 40 years ago, and CCA wood waste now creates severe environmental problems. Sufficient information on the effects of CCA on soil, water, and plants is not available. We investigated the contents and fractionation of Cr, Cu, and As in soils and plants around a shed in which a CCA-treated wood had been stored.
All soils collected in the shed contained higher levels of Cr, Cu, and As than a control soil. One sample from a site where CCA-treated wood had been burned showed extremely high Cr, Cu, and As contents (3450, 2310 and 830 mg kg-1, respectively). Sequential extraction of this sample indicated that approximately 14%and 50% of As,4% and 66% of Cu occurred in soluble and mobile fractions, respectively, suggesting easy leaching. Cr was less mobile than As and Cu, 95.5% of the total content found in residual fraction. Two plant samples contained between 2.3 and 7.2 times as much Cr, Cu, and As as a control plant. We conclude that the inadequate treatment of CCA-containing wood waste such as storage or burning in an open environment might cause pollution of soils, water, and plants.
