Pressure Treated Lumber For Raised Beds

The safety of pressure treated lumber for raised bed gardens has been examined by several researchers.

Pressure treated lumber for raised beds.

Concerns have focused on the leaching of arsenic from pressure treated wood into the soil contaminating plants and people. However while treated lumber will hold up better over time it can also leach harmful chemicals into your soil. Gardeners have used pressure treated wood for decades in raised beds and as posts but on december 31 2003 the environmental protection agency epa banned the sale of lumber treated with chromated copper arsenate cca for residential use. Certain woods such as cedar black locust redwood and cypress are naturally less prone to rot due to the oils in the wood.

Wood treated with chromated copper arsenate or cca can leach toxic arsenic into soil. While there is scientific consensus that it is safe to use for garden and vegetable beds the information below explains what chemicals are used in viance ground contact treated wood for residential use and the results of numerous scientific studies. The safety of pressure treated wood for garden beds depends on what preservative was used to treat the wood. From what i ve seen the consensus is that the chemicals do leach out of the wood into the soil and are uptaken by the plants in very small amounts.

There are several different alternatives to using pressure treated lumber to build raised beds. Some have the same look and others are a different approach altogether. If you want to use a pressure treated wood for your raised beds look for lumber with a label stating it was treated with acq alkaline copper quat. He stated in a bulletin titled treated wood in raised bed gardening scientific evidence and data have shown that using pressure treated wood for raised bed or box gardening is safe to adults and children in terms of the plants grown and used in these containers he further explains all chemicals in consumer products have a toxicity.