Year “7” and Year “8” Studies Focusing on Mulch
Mulch – Buffer Materials Early research has shown that mulches made from recycled dimensional wood can be contaminated with CCA (Townsend et al. 2003). Follow-up study -> Year 7 – South Florida Year 8 – Rest of Florida
Mulch made from C&D Wood
Mulch Analysis Methods Visual Inspection Size Distribution Sample Ash for total Metals SPLP Analysis
Not Positive for Arsenic: 8 Not Positive for Arsenic: 5 Mulch Ashing Results Ashed Samples: 20 Colored: 14 Not Colored: 6 Positive for Arsenic: 6 Not Positive for Arsenic: 8 Positive for Arsenic: 1 Not Positive for Arsenic: 5 All 6 samples contained plywood indicating that they contained recycled dimensional wood.
Concentration Range of Arsenic Samples
Arsenic vs. Chromium
Not Positive for Arsenic: 9 Not Positive for Arsenic: 10 Mulch SPLP Results SPLP Samples: 32 Colored: 17 Not Colored: 15 Positive for Arsenic: 8 Not Positive for Arsenic: 9 Positive for Arsenic: 5 Not Positive for Arsenic: 10 All 8 samples contained plywood indicating that they contained recycled dimensional wood.
Concentration Range of Arsenic Samples
Arsenic vs. Chromium
Conclusion Engineered wood was found in 28% of consumer mulches Arsenic was found in 35% consumer mulches SPLP tested showed that arsenic leached from 37 % of consumer mulches 26% of these samples leached over 50 μg/L
Effect of Iron Oxides on Leaching of CCA Mulch Leaching Study Effect of Iron Oxides on Leaching of CCA