Why is creosote banned?

Why is creosote banned?

Consumer use of creosote has been banned since 2003. Creosote is a carcinogen at any level, and there are significant environmental risks when wood treated with creosote comes into direct contact with soil or water.

Is creosote harmful to humans?

Exposure to creosotes, coal tar, coal tar pitch, or coal tar pitch volatiles may be harmful to your health. Eating food or drinking water contaminated with a high level of these compounds may cause a burning in the mouth and throat as well as stomach pain.

What are the ingredients in creosote?

Creosote is a mixture of hundreds of chemicals. A mixture is substances, like water and salt, staying together by physical forces. The major chemicals in coal tar creosote are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenol, and creosols. Creosote is a thick and oily liquid.

Can you still buy original creosote?

Traditional Creosote can only be sold to Professional Users. However, the product is still available for sale to trades-people. This means the traditional user such as the agricultural community, builders, etc. are still able to purchase Coal Tar Creosote, providing they do not resell to the general householder.

Why was creosote banned in UK?

In 2003 the EU took the decision to ban the amateur use of creosote as a precautionary measure, because of concerns around the impacts of creosote on human health and the environment. Approvals for professional and industrial use of creosote products were allowed to continue.

What has replaced creosote?

WOCO Creocote
Our approved creosote substitute ‘WOCO Creocote’ is a spirit oil-based, effective treatment for exterior wood. It has been developed as a safer (for the user) alternative to original creosote. It is still designed to be used to protect wood against rotting fungi and wood destroying insects on external timbers.

Is the smell of creosote harmful?

Breathing the creosote fumes given off by creosote-treated wood can cause asthma and other respiratory ailments, as well as stomach pain and a burning sensation in the mouth and throat, according to researchers from the UCLA Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program.

Will creosote cover fence paint?

Creosote for fences The good news is that there is a safer more environmentally version called ‘Creocote’. This Creosote substitute is perfect for use on sheds and fences and is available in light and dark shades of brown.

What happens if you touch creosote?

* Creosote can affect you when breathed in and by passing through your skin. * Creosote should be handled as a CARCINOGEN–WITH EXTREME CAUTION. * Skin contact can cause irritation, burning, redness, rash and itching, which is made worse by exposure to sunlight.

Is it OK to burn creosote wood?

Creosote is nothing more than a condensation of small, unburned particles contained in the smoke that coats the chimney surface as it exits. The creosote will stick to the sides of the chimney and can ignite, causing a chimney fire. It’s best not to burn green wood in your fireplace if you can avoid it.

Is creosote oil or water based?

Varieties of creosote have also been made from both oil shale and petroleum, and are known as oil-tar creosote when derived from oil tar, and as water-gas-tar creosote when derived from the tar of water gas….Wood-tar creosote.

Various phenols	C6H5OH—	6.2\%
Creosol and homologs	C6H3(CH3)(OH)(OCH3)—	35.0\%

What’s the difference between creosote and creosote?

Barrettine CreoSolve® is a lower hazard alternative to traditional Creosote and some other Creosote replacement wood treatments. Similar physical/water repellence/application characteristics of traditional Creosote but contains no biocide. (Not suitable for decking or exterior wooden furniture).