Hazardous Assessment - Creosote FAQs
|Definition | Usage | Restrictions |Treating Creasote | Legislation |
What is Creosote?
Creosote is commonly used as a wood preservative. Most use of creosote is in the industrial impregnation of timber products such as railway sleepers and telegraph poles, although a significant proportion is used by private individuals for brush application to fences etc.
Creosote itself is a mixture of substances obtained from the distillation of coal tar and is classified as carcinogenic on the basis of some of those substances (e.g.benzo-a-pyrene (BaP)).
Why is Creosote dangerous?
On the initiative of the European Commission, a study undertaken by the Fraunhofer Institute (Hanover, Germany)1 and accepted by the Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment, concluded that creosote has a greater potential to cause cancer than was previously thought. In effect, creosote is not allowed to be used in the treatment of wood, though a number of specific derogations are allowed.
When can Creosote be used?
Creosote treatment of wood can only be undertaken in industrial installations where the relevant worker protection and environmental regulations apply. Such wood can only be marketed for professional and industrial use, e.g. railway sleepers, telephone and electricity poles, commercial fencing, agricultural purposes (stake supports for trees). Creosote can be re-applied to wood previously treated with creosote, but this can only be done by professional users.
Creosote cannot be sold to consumers, under any circumstances
Are there any restrictions to the professional use of Creosote?
Creosote that is marketed for professional use must have a benzo-a-pyrene content of less than 0.005% by mass. This is a ten-fold reduction in benzo-a-pyrene content from that previously allowed.
It may only be sold in containers with a capacity of greater than or equal to 20 litres, and must carry the appropriate hazard labelling in addition to a clear statement saying "For use in industrial installations or professional treatment only".
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Can wood treated with Creosote prior to June 2003 be placed on the market?
Wood treated with Creosote prior to 3 June 2003 can be placed on the market once it is not used:
- inside buildings
- in toys
- in playgrounds
- in parks, gardens and outdoor recreational facilities where there is a risk of frequent skin contact
- in the manufacture of garden furniture such as picnic tables
- for the manufacture and use of any re-treatment of containers intended for growing purposes, packaging that may come into contact with raw materials, intermediate or finished products destined for human and/or animal consumption, other materials which may contaminate the products above.
What legislation covers the marketing of Creosote?
The European Communities (Dangerous Substances and Preparations)(Marketing and Use) Regulations 2003, (S.I. No. 220 of 2003) covers the marketing and use of Cresote and can be accessed on www.irishstatutebook.ie.