Duckdog,
This has been a sore spot for me for many years, From what I have read, the whole thing was started by some "soccer moms" who just happened to notice the part that said "arsenate" after all those many years when it was the accepted treatment.
They saw it as an opportunity to agitate for their "cause", and it screwed up the acceptable use of a common material which was more effective and less expensive than the alternatives.
The treatment chemicals seem to be a moving target, as there have been several versions tried with questionable success.
I don't know how accurate the dire predictions of fastener failure were, but I put out a sample of the "above ground" material with many types of screws in it, and could see no difference in the amount of rust or corrosion after a year of exposure to the weather. Maybe the heavier treated "ground contact" material would have produced different results.
Myron
