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Home Depot's arsenic-treated wood - too toxic for zoo animals but safe for you?
We all know that corporate media has certain biases in its news coverage and especially on its editorial pages. We shouldn't forget, though, that this bias extends to the advertising department. Newspapers in the Bay Area printed the following ad, but other publishers were not so obliging. Admittedly there is nothing unusual about it - just another case of putting corporate profits before consumer safety.
NEWSPAPERS NIX AD ON ARSENIC IN LUMBER - 'LET'S DON'T OFFEND HOME DEPOT'
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If Arsenic-Treated Wood is Too Toxic for Zoo Animals...
Why Does The Home Depot Think it's Safe for Your Kids?
From the Bronx Zoo to the San Diego Zoo, wood products treated with arsenic have been banned as "unsafe for animals."
Why is Home Depot still selling these products to American families?
The nation's largest home improvement chain sells "pressure treated" lumber soaked in a pesticide called chromated copper arsenate (CCA). It's used on patio decks, outdoor furniture, even swing sets and playgrounds.
Everyone knows arsenic can kill you. Studies show that kids ingest arsenic when it rubs off of these products and onto their hands. The National Research Council says that ingestion of arsenic, even at low levels, is indisputably linked to skin, bladder and lung cancer, and that there are strong links to diabetes, high blood pressure, reproductive and respiratory problems.
Many reputable playground manufacturers no longer use arsenic-treated wood. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is considering a ban. Yet despite all of this evidence, Home Depot continues to keep its head in the sand.
Next time you're at Home Depot, please ask the manager to stop putting arsenic in your wood. Don't monkey around with your family's health.
[Lab tests on Home Depot lumber show alarming levels of arsenic contamination. See our web sites for details and information on inexpensive home testing kits.]
Healthy Building Network - http://www.healthybuilding.net
Environmental Working Group - http://www.ewg.org
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Newspapers in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and Boston, including chains owned by the publishers of The Wall Street Journal and the Boston Herald, are refusing to carry a paid advertisment criticizing retail giant Home Depot for selling lumber treated with dangerous amounts of arsenic.
The papers would not provide written or specific reasons for the rejections. But two environmental groups who tried to place the ad say it's clear they were turned down because, in a period when ad revenues are slumping, publishers feared offending Atlanta-based Home Depot, one of the largest newspaper advertisers in the U.S.
The ad (attached) features side-by-side photos of a monkey and a child swinging by their arms from climbing structures, with the headline: "If Arsenic-Treated Wood is Too Toxic for Zoo Animals . . . Why Does Home Depot Think It's Safe for Your Kids?"
The ad was based on the latest findings of the National Research Council and a citizens' sampling program that found high levels of cancer-causing arsenic in wood from Home Depot stores nationwide. It was timed to run as Environmental Working Group and Healthy Building Network released a report that found that one in 500 children who play regularly on playground equipment or decks made from arsenic-treated wood can be expected to develop cancer later in life as a result of this exposure.
"Home Depot spends millions of dollars each year advertising its products, including arsenic-treated wood, and some of those ads specifically claim that arsenic-treated wood is safe," said Bill Walsh, director of Healthy Building Network. "For these newspapers to run whole sections of Home Depot's ads, then refuse to sell us less than a page of space denies their readers access to balanced information about a very real threat to their kids' health." (None of the papers that rejected the ads covered the report's findings in news stories.)
Newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area and suburban Denver approved the ad after fact-checking, asking only that it not use Home Depot's copyrighted logo. But it was rejected by Essex County Newspapers of Beverly, Mass.; Community Newspaper Co. of Needham, Mass.; and Journal Newspapers of Alexandria, Va. None would provide a written reason or statement of ad policies.
Essex County Newspapers is a division of Ottaway Newspapers, a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co., publishers of The Wall Street Journal. Essex publishes three daily newspapers north of Boston. Community Newspaper Co. is part of Herald Media Inc., publishers of the Boston Herald, and publishes more than 100 weeklies and dailies in eastern Massachusetts. Journal Newspapers, an independent company, publishes six dailies in Virginia and Maryland.
According to notes of phone calls and e-mail messages by Fenton Communications of Washington, who designed the ad and attempted to place it in early November, here's how the newspapers responded:
At Community Newspaper Co., Linda Jeffrey, an advertising department employee, first said they were interested in running the ad but "didn't want to offend Home Depot." She requested removal of the Home Depot logo, but later told Fenton the changes were not acceptable because they were "concerned about slandering Home Depot."
At Journal Newspapers, Alan Portner, who is listed on the chain's website as the chief operating officer, told Fenton the ad "takes swipes at Home Depot . . . has no support for its claims . . . (and) portrays a misleading image calculated to create unfair reactions."
At Essex County Newspapers, Brent Connolly, director of sales and marketing, said only: "Conservative newspapers frequently make decisions to reject controversial ads."
Although publishers have the right to refuse any ad for any reason, EWG and HBN said it's too bad the newspapers care more about catering to a big advertiser than giving readers the opportunity to make fully informed decisions when shopping for lumber. The ad even offered concerned consumers the opportunity to order a home arsenic testing kit.
"Contrary to the newspapers' excuses, every statement in the ad is supported by solid research - not only by us, but by government regulators and academic scientists," said Jane Houlihan, EWG's research director. "It's not misleading, and the only controversy is created by Home Depot's refusal to put consumer safety before corporate profits."
For More Info:
Healthy Building Network: Bill Walsh, (202) 232-4108
Environmental Working Group: Bill Walker, (510) 444-0973
Essex County Newspapers: Brent Connolly, (978) 338-2552
Community Newspaper Co.: Michael Moses, (781) 433-6700
Journal Newspapers: Alan Portner, (703) 846-8446
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
If Arsenic-Treated Wood is Too Toxic for Zoo Animals...
Why Does The Home Depot Think it's Safe for Your Kids?
From the Bronx Zoo to the San Diego Zoo, wood products treated with arsenic have been banned as "unsafe for animals."
Why is Home Depot still selling these products to American families?
The nation's largest home improvement chain sells "pressure treated" lumber soaked in a pesticide called chromated copper arsenate (CCA). It's used on patio decks, outdoor furniture, even swing sets and playgrounds.
Everyone knows arsenic can kill you. Studies show that kids ingest arsenic when it rubs off of these products and onto their hands. The National Research Council says that ingestion of arsenic, even at low levels, is indisputably linked to skin, bladder and lung cancer, and that there are strong links to diabetes, high blood pressure, reproductive and respiratory problems.
Many reputable playground manufacturers no longer use arsenic-treated wood. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is considering a ban. Yet despite all of this evidence, Home Depot continues to keep its head in the sand.
Next time you're at Home Depot, please ask the manager to stop putting arsenic in your wood. Don't monkey around with your family's health.
[Lab tests on Home Depot lumber show alarming levels of arsenic contamination. See our web sites for details and information on inexpensive home testing kits.]
Healthy Building Network - http://www.healthybuilding.net
Environmental Working Group - http://www.ewg.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newspapers in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and Boston, including chains owned by the publishers of The Wall Street Journal and the Boston Herald, are refusing to carry a paid advertisment criticizing retail giant Home Depot for selling lumber treated with dangerous amounts of arsenic.
The papers would not provide written or specific reasons for the rejections. But two environmental groups who tried to place the ad say it's clear they were turned down because, in a period when ad revenues are slumping, publishers feared offending Atlanta-based Home Depot, one of the largest newspaper advertisers in the U.S.
The ad (attached) features side-by-side photos of a monkey and a child swinging by their arms from climbing structures, with the headline: "If Arsenic-Treated Wood is Too Toxic for Zoo Animals . . . Why Does Home Depot Think It's Safe for Your Kids?"
The ad was based on the latest findings of the National Research Council and a citizens' sampling program that found high levels of cancer-causing arsenic in wood from Home Depot stores nationwide. It was timed to run as Environmental Working Group and Healthy Building Network released a report that found that one in 500 children who play regularly on playground equipment or decks made from arsenic-treated wood can be expected to develop cancer later in life as a result of this exposure.
"Home Depot spends millions of dollars each year advertising its products, including arsenic-treated wood, and some of those ads specifically claim that arsenic-treated wood is safe," said Bill Walsh, director of Healthy Building Network. "For these newspapers to run whole sections of Home Depot's ads, then refuse to sell us less than a page of space denies their readers access to balanced information about a very real threat to their kids' health." (None of the papers that rejected the ads covered the report's findings in news stories.)
Newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area and suburban Denver approved the ad after fact-checking, asking only that it not use Home Depot's copyrighted logo. But it was rejected by Essex County Newspapers of Beverly, Mass.; Community Newspaper Co. of Needham, Mass.; and Journal Newspapers of Alexandria, Va. None would provide a written reason or statement of ad policies.
Essex County Newspapers is a division of Ottaway Newspapers, a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co., publishers of The Wall Street Journal. Essex publishes three daily newspapers north of Boston. Community Newspaper Co. is part of Herald Media Inc., publishers of the Boston Herald, and publishes more than 100 weeklies and dailies in eastern Massachusetts. Journal Newspapers, an independent company, publishes six dailies in Virginia and Maryland.
According to notes of phone calls and e-mail messages by Fenton Communications of Washington, who designed the ad and attempted to place it in early November, here's how the newspapers responded:
At Community Newspaper Co., Linda Jeffrey, an advertising department employee, first said they were interested in running the ad but "didn't want to offend Home Depot." She requested removal of the Home Depot logo, but later told Fenton the changes were not acceptable because they were "concerned about slandering Home Depot."
At Journal Newspapers, Alan Portner, who is listed on the chain's website as the chief operating officer, told Fenton the ad "takes swipes at Home Depot . . . has no support for its claims . . . (and) portrays a misleading image calculated to create unfair reactions."
At Essex County Newspapers, Brent Connolly, director of sales and marketing, said only: "Conservative newspapers frequently make decisions to reject controversial ads."
Although publishers have the right to refuse any ad for any reason, EWG and HBN said it's too bad the newspapers care more about catering to a big advertiser than giving readers the opportunity to make fully informed decisions when shopping for lumber. The ad even offered concerned consumers the opportunity to order a home arsenic testing kit.
"Contrary to the newspapers' excuses, every statement in the ad is supported by solid research - not only by us, but by government regulators and academic scientists," said Jane Houlihan, EWG's research director. "It's not misleading, and the only controversy is created by Home Depot's refusal to put consumer safety before corporate profits."
For More Info:
Healthy Building Network: Bill Walsh, (202) 232-4108
Environmental Working Group: Bill Walker, (510) 444-0973
Essex County Newspapers: Brent Connolly, (978) 338-2552
Community Newspaper Co.: Michael Moses, (781) 433-6700
Journal Newspapers: Alan Portner, (703) 846-8446
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IMC Network
All dangerous chemicals should be removed from all sectors of human life. Gone from our environment.
Back to basics. 100% all natural non toxic every mofo thing. End consumer plastics creation. We can go with what we have. Aluminum, glass, paper, no more in consumer products.
Zero emission battery powered every mofo thing. Battery or energy cell technology is here.
Zero mining expansion. Zero logging extensions. Zero oil well expansion anywhere. We have enough of all this stuff here now. We can let it be our limit.
All surfaces and substances should be free of ill inducing anything. Unless you just choose it for yourself to the complete lack of harm to anyone not wanting to be effected.
Chemical Free Reality !!!
Lead poisoning is a more critical issue because lead is in the paint, which flakes off; or in the water pipes.
But arsenic in our environment - in wood products, in the soil and water around industrial areas, and so forth - is so often overlooked.
Research on arsenic isn't as extensive as lead; but we do know that arsenic is often discovered in dangerous concentrations in unsuspected places, and in any concentration is easily assimilated by your body.
Wood purchased at Home Depot is probably more likely to be used in home projects in and around the home, as opposed to buried under layers of drywall or otherwise protected from children.
It is distubing that anti-corporate advertising is so often banned from corporate media, and that people are muzzled against publicizing arsenic toxicity as it pertains to particular products or arsenic traffickers.
Veterinary Q & A: Chocolate Toxicity - http://vetmedicine.about.com/library/weekly/aa020900a.htm