Laurette Janak’s letter to the EPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel

The mother of a Down’s Syndrome child details the story of her daughter’s exposure to CCA treated wood and the health problems that followed.

Last Updated: 7/17/2003

Editor’s Note: BANCCA.ORG is honored to publish this stirring story of what happened when Ms. Janak’s daughter was overexposed to CCA wood decking, and how special needs children are at a higher risk of hazardous exposure to the arsenic and chromium in treated wood. We have attempted to leave the wording of this accounts in its original format as much as possible, with only minimal editing. Some names of injured persons have been removed for privacy reasons.

You can also read more about Ms. Janak and her daughter's injuries in this facsimile of the newspaper story published in The Buffalo News on February 8, 2002. Please share this with your friends and neighbors.



Laurette Janak
7185 Liebler Rd.
Colden, NY. 14033
laurettejanak@cs.com


Public Information and Records Integrity Branch (PIRIB),
Information Resources and Services Division (7502C),
Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP),
Environmental Protection Agency, Pennsylvania Ave.,
NW, Washington DC 20460 USA

August 25,2002


Re: CCA-treated wood; docket ID OPP-2002-0147

To Whom it may concern:

Like every responsible parent ,a major goal for our children is to keep them safe while they are growing up. I was glad to have a play area for my daughter on our deck. Protected from wondering off, cars and kidnappers, a safe place to play - or so I thought.

Roughly one out of every 500 children born has Trisomy 21, better known as Down’s Syndrome. My daughter was born with Down’s Syndrome. With Down’s syndrome, the oral fixation stage extends well beyond that which is seen in typical children. They experience their world through their mouths. It is almost as though their tongue is an extra hand. [emphasis added]

It was common to see [her] put her tongue directly on our wooden deck, or see her chewing on the railing. While I would discourage such behaviors when I observed them, I was not overly concerned. After all, how bad could chewing on wood be? I was about to find out.

As our home aged over the past 18 years, the unsealed CCA deck became gray and weathered. To make the wood look better, my husband decided to clean and seal our deck. When my husband went to the paint store to purchase the sealant, the sales clerk advised him to first wash the deck with Clorox to bleach out the gray, before applying the sealant, then rough up the wood with a belt sander to allow the sealant to adhere better. No mention was made that pressure treated wood contained arsenic, and this was not common knowledge to either me or my husband. No mention was made to take any precautions with regard to the sawdust generated from the sanding. [emphasis added]

In October 2001, my husband began our home improvement. My daughter and I were on the deck to cheer daddy on as he sanded. I was careful not to let our daughter get in daddy's way as he worked, but she sure enjoyed being out there watching him. It took several days to complete the sanding. The sealer was applied several weeks later.

The deck continued to be her play area, both during the cleaning and sanding process, as well as during the weeks before the sealer was applied. Because I believed this giant playpen area to be safe, my daughter spent some amount of unsupervised time playing there while I would attend to household chores. It would be impossible to know how many times she put her mouth directly on the freshly-sanded arsenic-laced wood- but that she did, I am certain. Family members observed her doing so.

As if the direct mouth contact was not enough, anyone who knows [my daughter] can attest to the fact that she uses her hands to play with her tongue, and at the age of 7 still sucks her thumb. Looking back, I shudder to think about what was transpiring during such contacts.

Shortly after the deck sanding, [my daughter] began to experience sleep problems with frequent night awakenings and irritability during the day. Because [she] is unable to verbally express her feelings, I could not ascertain exactly what was bothering her. One day, I noticed that she had abnormally colored urine. Fearing that [she] was relapsing from a previous bout with leukemia, she was seen in the emergency room that evening. While in the ER, I noticed [my daughter] had developed a rather peculiar hand posturing. I brought this to the attention of the doctor. I mentioned her irritability, sleeping problem, and poor appetite. A CBC was done to look at blood counts. The only abnormal blood finding was an elevated MCV. The urine sample was negative for blood. [She] was discharged with no diagnosis.

The next day [she] had diarrhea and vomiting. The abnormal hand posturing persisted and still persists to this day. With problems persisting, a second urine sample was taken a few days later. I was horrified when the results came back, showing an astounding 192.2 ug/g creatinine of arsenic. A urine sample taken with a DMSA challenge went up to 280 ug/g creatinine. Chelation therapy was initiated.

I needed to determine the source of the exposure. Our well water tested negative for arsenic. [My daughter] had not eaten fish in months, so that was ruled out. When I learned about the pressure treated wood containing arsenic, it all made sense to me. An elevated [arsenic level in her] hair sample showed [that my daughter] has had long term chronic exposure. Our deck was analyzed. I was stunned when the results showed 1680 ppm of arsenic. Now that a source had been identified, I could avoid continued exposure - or so I thought.

This July, we took a summer vacation in XXXXX, NY located on the shores of Lake Erie. Walking along the shoreline, I became aware of how much CCA driftwood washes ashore. Debris from people's beach stairs, docks, bridges, and decks were all stacked up in large piles waiting to be burned, thereby releasing their toxic gases during the 4th of July celebration. The highly concentrated ashes would soon mingle with the sand where the children will play for the rest of the summer.

It was through my ignorance that my daughter had become a victim; therefore, I could easily identify with the ignorance of the people who built the fires. If they only knew the dangers that lurked within, they would be unwilling to jeopardize the environment and their health. In an attempt to inform the people, I made a series of phone calls pleading for help. My request was simple, "Would you please use the media to remind people not to burn CCA wood?" I spoke with the town fire chief, the county health dept, the New York state DEC, the EPA, the American Wood Preservers Institute (AWPI), and local media.

I heard a few interesting comments from these various groups: "It's not the worst thing in the world," said a representative of the New York DEC. "The only ill effects we are aware of from burning CCA lumber is from cows eating the ashes" and "its not a big deal if the CCA wood is less than 5% of the total wood volume," said the representative from AWPI. Local media did not find the story newsworthy enough. The local fire chief recommended that I take my child away from the beach when the fires are lit, but took no action to inform others. The EPA let me know that while the consumer safety information sheet [for CCA] states there are regulations against burning the lumber, there is no law that makes it illegal.

Returning from our vacation, my daughter started summer school in a school for special needs children. I soon found out the children were walking down the road to an elementary school to play on a CCA playground. Oh no! My child was once again being given the opportunity to gnaw away on poison. I submitted a note to the school nurse banning my child from any future outings to this playground. Despite my informing the teacher about the special vulnerabilities of this subset of children, she continued to take the others to the playground over the summer.

While my story of a child poisoned by arsenic may sound like an isolated incident, I assure you it is NOT! If our family was unaware of our backyard danger, there must be other families unknowingly putting their children at risk. To help others avoid the travesty that we encountered, I posted my story on multiple Internet sites. I asked if others had seen children with elevated arsenic levels. Responses came back and I began a file of very disturbing e-mails.

My school district told me that 10% of the school population in the district are children with what I call "abbreviation disorders": ADD, ADHD, PDD, LD, ASD etc. One has to wonder how this epidemic could be occurring. The answer to that question is undoubtedly complex. I heard from a number of families with children who have one or more of the above mentioned “abbreviation disorders”. Some of these families had already had their children tested for heavy metals, some were in the process of doing so. Elevated arsenic was frequently found among the children tested. This was alarming for me to learn, but was not a surprise.

Before closing, I would like to share brief details from 3 of the families I personally know.
My neighbor XXXX has 2 special needs children. XXXX's husband is a builder. Their backyard is enclosed with a CCA fence. The pool is surrounded by a CCA deck. Their sliding glass door opens to a large CCA yard deck with custom-made CCA benches and a CCA picnic table. I explained why I thought it may be prudent to have a doctor screen her children for arsenic. This was done and BOTH her children have elevated arsenic.

A friend of mine has twin boys. One twin has Down’s Syndrome while his brother has one of the “abbreviation disorders“. The mother tells of her children licking water from puddles on their CCA deck. Testing reveals 2 more children with elevated arsenic.

Lastly, another friend of mine had her special needs child tested for multiple metals, and he showed elevated levels of copper, chromium and arsenic. These findings leave little to the imagination as to the source of the exposure.

On behalf of the many families who have shared their findings with me, we wish to thank you for taking this issue so seriously. We look forward to very closely following your progress as your study continues.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Laurette Janak