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G4EBT > WURDZ 08.01.07 20:18l 100 Lines 4024 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 334108G4EBT
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: Creosote, G0TEZ
Path: ON0AR<TU5EX<ZS0MEE<GB7FCR
Sent: 070108/1806Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:13394 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:334108G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : WURDZ@WW
Ian, G0TEZ wrote:-
> The purpose of whitewash is to cover up marks and discolouration. As
> far as I know it is still very popular for use in outbuildings, along
> with creosote.
Amateur use of creosote has been banned throughout the European Union.
Creosote can still be used professionally, but approval for the amateur
creosote/coal tar creosote wood preservatives was revoked in 2003 under
the Control of Pesticides Regs 1986 for the use of creosote and coal tar
creosote wood preservatives by the general public.
This action was taken by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), in part,
due to a European Commission Directive.
That Directive was the latest measure brought in by the E.U. for creosote
and coal tar creosote. In 1994, controls on the spec of creosote that
could be sold to the general public were implemented due to concerns over
the carcinogenic potential of certain constituents of creosote.
New infon led the EU to believe that creosote/coal tar creosote may have
a greater potential to cause cancer than previously thought, so the EU
decided to take action to prohibit the use of creosote/coal tar creosote
wood preservatives by the general public.
The HSE acted to remove the Control of Pesticides Regs approvals for these
products to the following timetable:
Approval for advertisement and sale of amateur creosote/coal tar creosote
products by the product Approval Holder and their agents expired on the
28th February 2003.
Approval for supply, storage and use of amateur creosote/coal tar creosote
products expired on the 30th June 2003, from the 30th April 2003 retailers
were no longer permitted to sell creosote to the general public, and from
30th June 2003 the general public can no longer legally use wood
preservatives that contain creosote/coal tar creosote.
There are also restrictions on where wood that's been treated with
creosote/coal tar creosote can be used.
Creosote and coal tar creosote are complex mixture of coal tar
derivatives. It's is not one specific chemical, but a number of
constituent chemicals, like, for example, petrol. As we know, it was
commonly used in the UK as a very effective wood preservative for use
against wood destroying insects and wood rotting fungi.
I don't think any of the alternatives now on sale are anything like as
satisfactory - most seem to be decorative rather than effective timber
preservers.
One of the qualities of creosote (which I guess makes it so dangerous by
being readily absorbed into the skin) is its low surface tension when
compared to water-based preservatives. Wood (and skin!) soaks up creosote
like blotting paper.
Although it's not to everyone's liking, I liked the smell of creosote. I
guess there must still be thousands of gallons of the stuff still on the
shelves of garden sheds and garages. I must check mine!
Professional and industrial uses of creosote have been allowed to continue
since it's possible to introduce measures to reduce exposure, for example,
engineering controls and personal protective equipment for workers.
The risk assessments and exposure reduction methods used by professional
users (if carried out) should further minimise any risks.
This regulation strengthens restrictions on the industrial and
professional use of creosote through further restrictions on the spec of
the creosote.
>I spent many a tiring hour using the above on our black and white half
>timbered farmhouse and outbuildings as a boy.
Happy days!
Harking back to a bygone age of yore, as well all do, is evocative of
A.E. Housman's famous poem - "Blue Remembered Hills":
Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
73 - David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
Message timed: 15:38 on 2007-Jan-08
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