My cats lay, play, and frollic on arsenic treated wood all day, then sleep on my bed, should I be worried?

Question

Up until 2003, inorganic arsenic was regularly applied to pressure treated wood as a pesticide. It has since been banned in the US.

I ask because this quandry is pertinent to my circumstances.

I have two cats who spend the majority of their day sleeping, playing, and rolling around on a deck that was built using arsenic treated wood. The wood on the deck is /very/ old and withered (does this mean the arsenic has come off of it?). At the end of the day, the cats come in my room, rub all over me, sleep on my bed, etc. Whatever they had contact with.... gets onto me. So I'm curious. Could there be any health consequences because of this? Does the arsenic in these miniscule quantities quickly pass through the body and get urinated, sweated, and excreted right back out, or does it start to accumulate in organs.. and could damage brain cells, or potentially cause cancer at a later age?

In addition, in these quantities, would the arsenic have any bearing on cognitive development or performance? I'm intellectually ambitious, and so the threat of something hampering or ruining my academic chances is unacceptable.

-- Oh, and, as an aside. If I were to graze the wood with an open wound, or touch it and then eat without thoroughly ridding my hands of the arsenic, what would happen in these instances?

Lastly, I have no control over whether or not the cats are let out onto the deck or not, so don't tell me to just stop letting the pets out onto it. My parents come from the old fashioned batch of ignorance that perpetuates the erroneous notion that "If you don't see symptoms, it isn't hurting you." and are unwilling to compromise in their stupidity. I'm not seeking a solution or alternative here, folks, I just want to know, from a health perspective, whether or not I might be at risk of chronic arsenic poisoning, or surreptitious ingestions of small, miniscule amounts of arsenic that might, over time, exacerbate my likelihood of cancer at a later age - or in someway interfere with neurological development.

I don't l**k the cats and I always wash my hands thoroughly after petting them. Wouldn't this mean I'm avoiding possible arsenic exposure, or could it be absorbing through my skin dermally when I sleep with and pet them?

Answer 1

have you thought about having quality control in-------- to examine the air that you breath----- life is dangerous dear live a little

Answer 2

I think the only way that you could be poisoned and seriously hurt would be if you ingested the arsenic intentionally.  If the wood is very old, I doubt that your cats even have the arsenic on them at all.  It has probably worn off with rain and people walking on it.  It's true that a lot of things can be absorbed throughout the skin, but I doubt you should be worrying about this one.

If you had been poisoned, your symptoms would most likely be lightheadedness, mild headaches, and dizziness.  Of course they would progress to a point where only an idiot would let the problems go unexamined and untreated, but again, I think you're ok.

If you wanted your hair follicles checked, talk to your doctor because he'll certainly know more about who can perform the tests than I do.

Answer 3

Your cats lie, not lay, and frolic, not frollic. And your worst threat to health is fleas.

You don't know what you're missing; cat l*****g can be a lot of fun if uh doe mine frr n uh mth.