ARSENIC AND OLD WOOD: Which Swing Sets Are Safest?

My husband and I have decided it’s time to get our daughter a swing set. Swinging is her favorite thing to do. If Sofie were in charge, we’d never leave the playground. At school, she spends much of her day amusing herself on the wooden play structures, inside and out. Just imagine the free time having a structure in our yard might provide us!

I grew up with one of those metal swing sets that are abundant on craigslist these days. However they are merely that — swings and a slide. No climbing structure for agility. No clubhouse for imaginative play. Mike and I provide Sofie with much mental and emotional stimulation. Our chosen swing set needs to provide a good physical outlet to maintain her interest outdoors.

So the next decision then is wood or plastic? My instinct was to assume wood was the greener choice, however, that’s not necessarily true.

Consider that most wooden swing sets are treated with chemicals to help preserve the wood, particularly CCA — chromated copper arsenate or, in layman’s terms, arsenic. A comprehensive study by the EPA concluded that children easily absorb this human carcinogen into their bodies just from playing on these wooden swing sets – the exposure increases their risk of lung and bladder cancer later on.

An even scarier fact: A 12-foot section of pressure-treated lumber contains about an ounce of arsenic, or enough to kill 250 people. Lovely. (Read other scary facts about arsenic, and learn about some preventative measures.)

The good news is that consumer products manufactured with CCA-treated wood were apparently phased out in 2004. However, this means I won’t be recycling anyone’s used wooden swing set from craigslist. Green as that may be, the health hazards are too great. (By the way, this same CCA-treated wood can be found in older decks, picnic tables and gazebos as well.)

Now there is one company – CedarWorks — whose wood is chemical free, and they follow other eco values such as running their facilities on bio-fuel and planting seedlings for every swing set sold or catalog requested. Plus you can customize your own set to fit your needs. Sounds fabulous!

However, this is where the size of our yard presents a problem. Our house is centered on a 6,000 square foot lot, so there is no large backyard. The side yard, which offers the most space, also has a maple tree rooted dead center, greatly reducing our options. A small set is all we can do, barely leaving enough room for the six-foot safety zone. And there doesn’t seem to be anything small on the CedarWorks website. Also, there are no prices listed for their “premier” sets, which surely means mucho mullah. * sigh * Is it possible for green to be cost-efficient too?

Answer: Yes! Backyard Discovery uses 100% cedar treated with an eco-friendly water-based solution. They also participate in the Sustainable Forest program in which they plant four saplings for every tree removed to make a swing set. And their prices are reasonable.

A company called Rainbow Play Systems uses Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified lumber (North American timber or redwood), built to last a lifetime. They even offer a series of options to customize the play structure you want. (Note: The Obama girls play on a Rainbow Play Systems structure at the White House.)

In terms of plastic play sets, I found this woman-owned, family-owned company that creates playgrounds out of recycled plastic. They offer a range of cute play systems but they appear to be largely for public sites and day care centers with prices to match.

Ideally, a DIY ecologically-minded person would build a play structure him or herself, using sustainable wood and salvaged or recycled products. Sadly, neither Mike nor I am that person.

But this research has given me plenty to think about. Whether we find it in our budget to support green companies and products like CedarWorks or choose to go for a less expensive, plastic option with good recyclable resale value (Step2 and Little Tykes), our daughter will soon be climbing and swinging to her heart’s content.

2013 Update: We opted for a Step2 plastic play structure that fit our small yard. Although plastic, it’s highly durable and we expect it to be used by Sofie (or passed on to another child) for years and years. I only found out about Backyard Discovery and Rainbow Play Systems recently and wish I had known about them in 2009!