Pressure treated or no? Table question

Many people have built tables with pressure treated except for the top where foot can contact - where they use a more expensive, but weather resistant material.

Also let it be known that they make some nice treated woods - kiln dried and heat-treated.  You can use almost any wood if you protect it properly - extreme treatments - marine epoxy, more common - spar varnish.  Even decking sealant helps, or oils.

Hmmm.  Picnic tables are often made of pressure treated lumber. 

The Naked Whiz said:

Hmmm.  Picnic tables are often made of pressure treated lumber. 

That's a good point.  Personally, I don't prep or put food directly on my egg table.  Ever.  I use foil or cookie pans or baking pans.  Maybe some people do, and, in case they've lived under a rock, they should know that's a bad idea because the treatment chemicals are poisonous.

maybe the fda lives under a rock or maybe i just cant find real info trying to google it but this is all i could find
)

Why shouldn’t treated wood be used for cutting boards or countertops?

The Food and Drug Administration discourages the use of any wood, treated or untreated, for cutting boards and countertops because these surfaces can become gouged during food preparation. Bacteria can grow in these gouges, creating unsanitary conditions in your kitchen. Only hard, abrasion-resistant materials should be used for cutting surfaces.

The Naked Whiz said:

The FDA lives under a rock.  I've read a study that showed that wood cutting boards when properly santized have less bacteria on them than artificial surfaces.  But again, why would anyone put the food in touch with the wood on an outdoor table.  I'd be more worried about the bird crap.

Out of the 6 or 7 cutting boards I have, only one is plastic, and I throw it in the dishwasher after using it.  I prefer wood.  It's been common knowledge for years that wood cutting boards are safe.  I present this article back from the early '90s.

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/10/health/wooden-cutting-boards-found-safer-than-plastic.html

That said, I wash my wood cutting boards and let them dry out before reusing them.  (hence the reason I have so many cutting boards). 

Like others have said, you probably wouldn't be putting the food directly on the wood, so maybe it isn't a big deal; nonetheless, just to be cautious, I wouldn't use pressure treated lumber.  I just prefer to avoid toxic materials as best I can.  Seems like particularly solid advice if you've got kids hanging around.  I built my table of redwood.  It hardly rains where I am, so I just sealed it with Thompson's and called it a day.