Arsenic in Mulch on the Rise in Fla., Researchers Say

Elevated levels of arsenic have been finding their way into some types of mulch ground from construction and demolition wood debris in Florida, according to a report in the Florida Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.).

“There’s a lot of dirty mulch in this state,” Lynn Griffith, president of A&L Southern Agricultural Laboratories in Pompano Beach, Fla., tells the Sun-Sentinel. Griffith’s laboratory tests soils for farmers, golf courses and landscapers.

According to the report, Griffith told a recent mulch industry meeting that he has seen exceedingly high levels of arsenic from chromated copper arsenate or CCA-treated wood—from 20 to 150 parts per million, which is 10 to 71 times the level in a state cleanup guideline for arsenic-tainted soil.

A recent study by University of Miami researcher Helena Solo-Gabriele indicates recycled C&D wood shows the highest probability for contamination, according to the report. “The recycling of construction and demolition [wood] is a very good thing. It should be continued,” Solo-Gabriele tells the Sun-Sentinel. “But efforts need to be put in place to assure contaminated wood is pulled out of the mulch.”