Q&A – Is it safe to grow vegetables in a pressure-treated raised bed?

Question:
Is it safe to grow vegetables in a pressure-treated raised bed?
​​
Answer:
In 2004 the EPA banned arsenic pressure-treated wood. Modern pressure treated wood is treated with a copper compound. Gardener Peter Richards says the copper in pressure-treated wood does not leach readily into the soil. Also, he says plants are much more susceptible to copper poisoning than humans, so the plants will die long before you would get sick from eating the copper in the plants. UT Extension Agent Booker T. Leigh says you can line your pressure treated raised beds with plastic to keep the chemicals from leaching. 
​
Related Videos:
Replacing a Wooden Raised Bed with Concrete Block
What soil should I use to fill my raised beds?

​Related Resources:
Raised-Bed Gardening
Raised bed lumber, pressure treated safe?