Food & Drink / Compounds / Copper chromium arsenate (CCA) treated wood preservative

Copper chromium arsenate (CCA) treated wood preservative in food: ingestion safety

High risk

GHS Danger classification. Toxic if swallowed.

What is copper chromium arsenate (cca) treated wood preservative?

The IUPAC name is barium(2+);dioxido(dioxo)chromium.

Also known as: barium(2+);dioxido(dioxo)chromium, BARIUM CHROMATE, Permanent Yellow, Lemon chrome.

IUPAC name
barium(2+);dioxido(dioxo)chromium
CAS number
10294-40-3
Molecular formula
BaCrO4
Molecular weight
253.32 g/mol
SMILES
[Ba++].[O-][Cr]([O-])(=O)=O
PubChem CID
25136

Risk for people

High risk

GHS Danger classification. Toxic if swallowed.

Regulatory consensus

2 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Copper chromium arsenate (CCA) treated wood preservative. The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: positive (single report) (Ames: None, 1 positive / 1 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: positive (single report) (Ames: None, 1 positive / 1 negative reports)

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter copper chromium arsenate (cca) treated wood preservative

  • Contaminated Water — Mining site runoff, Industrial discharge, Old infrastructure
  • Food Chain — Fish from contaminated waters, Crops in contaminated soil

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Copper chromium arsenate (CCA) treated wood preservative:

  • Process redesign to avoid hazardous intermediates
    Trade-offs: May require significant R&D investment. Not always feasible.
    Relative cost: 2-5×

Frequently asked questions

Is copper chromium arsenate (cca) treated wood preservative safe for you?

GHS Danger classification. Toxic if swallowed.

What products contain copper chromium arsenate (cca) treated wood preservative?

Copper chromium arsenate (CCA) treated wood preservative appears in: Mining site runoff (Contaminated water); Industrial discharge (Contaminated water); Fish from contaminated waters (Food chain); Crops in contaminated soil (Food chain).

See Copper chromium arsenate (CCA) treated wood preservative in the food app

Look up products containing copper chromium arsenate (cca) treated wood preservative, compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (3)
  1. PubChem Compound CID 25136 — database
  2. EPA CompTox Chemicals Dashboard — DTXSID1051517 — epa
  3. ATSDR Toxicological Profile — CAS 10294-40-3 — reference

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →