Back to School Guide: Is Your School's Playground Equipment Safe?

"When I read that my kid's school playground equipment could be toxic, I was like 'You're kidding me,'" says Katy Pierce, one person I talked to regarding a environmental study and school report by National Geographic's Green Guide. As your kids head back to school this fall, are they being exposed to toxic playground equipment?

According to National Geographic's Green Guide, some commercially-manufactured school playground equipment (and playground equipment sold to families for home use) contain numerous health hazards, as well as documented safety risks.

The main health problem in school playgrounds? The use of chromated copper arsenate-treated wood. Also known as CCA, it's been in use for decades to help preserve wood, and is used everywhere. However, the Green Guide notes, "CCA is a pesticide considered toxic to humans-so toxic, in fact, that the federal Environmental Protection Agency allows it to only be purchased by licensed pesticide applicators...numerous studies have shown that arsenic from CCA treated wood can pose severe health risks, particularly to children" (source).

As parents, you should be concerned about the use of toxic playground equipment in your children's school equipment. Numerous environmental groups and health watchdog organizations have clamored for the banning of CCA and related toxins in schools. In 2003, many playground equipment manufacturers promised to stop using CCA on their products. However, National Geographic's Green Guide says that this might be "too little and too late to prevent the exposure of many children to the ill effects of arsenic" (source). This health hazard is real. Even after the start of the new millennium, a frightening 99 percent of wood playgrounds were treated with toxic CCA.

But CCA toxins and arsenic are not the only health hazards that you should be worried about this back-to-school season. The U.S. Center for Disease Control states that hundreds of thousands of kids are sent to emergency rooms and hospitals across the country because of poorly designed playgrounds that injure kids daily (source).

Thankfully, the situation is not hopeless. Check with your kid's school to see if its playground equipment meets all safety standards and does not use CCA-treated material. If it is, petition your school to get rid of it immediately. Your children's health and well-being is at risk.

Also, be sure your school's playground is safe. Check for sufficient padding at the bottom in case a child falls off of the playground: Many modern playgrounds have rubber "carpet" to soften falls. Also, watch for sharp edges and other dangerous obstructions, especially common in old playground sets that haven't been checked or repaired lately.