Yes you can use pressure treated lumber for your raised garden beds homeowners ask if it is safe to use treated lumber for garden vegetable beds.
Pressure treated lumber for raised beds.
If you want to use a pressure treated wood for your raised beds look for lumber with a label stating it was treated with acq alkaline copper quat.
Concerns have focused on the leaching of arsenic from pressure treated wood into the soil contaminating plants and people.
From what i ve seen the consensus is that the chemicals do leach out of the wood into the soil and are uptaken by the plants in very small amounts.
Gardeners have used pressure treated wood for decades in raised beds and as posts but on december 31 2003 the environmental protection agency epa banned the sale of lumber treated with chromated copper arsenate cca for residential use.
Many new gardeners and even experienced ones turn to treated lumber when sourcing materials for raised beds due to its added protection against moisture and the associated rot and bug damage.
He stated in a bulletin titled treated wood in raised bed gardening scientific evidence and data have shown that using pressure treated wood for raised bed or box gardening is safe to adults and children in terms of the plants grown and used in these containers he further explains all chemicals in consumer products have a toxicity.
Wood treated with chromated copper arsenate or cca can leach toxic arsenic into soil.
There are several different alternatives to using pressure treated lumber to build raised beds.
However while treated lumber will hold up better over time it can also leach harmful chemicals into your soil.
The safety of pressure treated lumber for raised bed gardens has been examined by several researchers.
Some have the same look and others are a different approach altogether.
Certain woods such as cedar black locust redwood and cypress are naturally less prone to rot due to the oils in the wood.