Thread: Treated Pine

Have a look at this recent thread and then draw your own conclusions.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/showth...375#post626375

BTW, welcome to the forums.

i know that education queensland is taking the treated pine playcentres out and replacing it with alternative materials, must be something wrong with it.bob

Originally Posted by prcwombat

... if this is truly the case why are the Chinese markets and buyers not being made aware of this? What are the recommended alternatives and do they need to be imported? I have a construction company in China dealing exclusively with foreign clients and do not wish to recommend the wrong advice. All comments would be greatly appreciated.

G'day China,

The CCA debate is very much a global issue so I'm sure that your local buyers and importers are aware of it.

CCA treatement is not banned in all countries and even in Australia its use is restricted - not to be used in domestic decking and hand rails or playground equipment. It can still be used for other purposes.

Your alternatives are TanE treated pine, LOSP and ACQ. I personally don't like LOSP but do some research and see if they are suitable alternatives.

Cheers.

Be very Careful of CCa reated timber of ANY sort. Mate of mine is a landscaper and handled a number of wet CCa treated sleepers on a job. He ended up with a racing heartbeat and - as he described it - his "head nearly blowing apart." That was high blood pressure,tests revealed arsenic poisoning.
BE WARNED!!!!

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

...even in Australia its use is restricted - not to be used in domestic decking and hand rails or playground equipment. It can still be used for other purposes..

Is this correct? Our local bunnings sells both treated pine flooring and treated pine pre-shaped handrails. If they were 'illegal' would they market them?

Curious,
Adam

Adam.
Not all treated timber is treated with CCA. There are a few different treatment preservatives that are quite OK for Domestic use.

Don't go jumping the gun and getting all hot and bothered something that may not actually be CCA treated. Ask your local Bunnie first.

The timber will have a stamp or label stapled to it. This will have the H level, Treater number and preservative number.

CCA= 01
Tan E= 58

Originally Posted by glock40sw

Adam.
Not all treated timber is treated with CCA. There are a few different treatment preservatives that are quite OK for Domestic use.

Don't go jumping the gun and getting all hot and bothered something that may not actually be CCA treated. Ask your local Bunnie first.

The timber will have a stamp or label stapled to it. This will have the H level, Treater number and preservative number.

CCA= 01
Tan E= 58

Hi Trevor,

'Tis hot today, but I'm not bothered - just curious. I thought treated pine was all either CCA or LOSP - obviously need more educa'n.

Thanks for the info, I'll do some more looking.
Cheers,
Adam

prcwombat I have a 2 year old and am actively trying to avoid treated pine, the problem is that it leaches the chemicals. What they have found is that because kids put hands in their mouths they get a proportionally much higher dose than an adult which is why it is now banned for things like playgrounds. It is also a very bad idea to use it for garden beds as again it leaches into the soil and the chemicals are not nice. I don't know enough about the alternative treatments, but in general if you can, use something else with your children is my advice. We are actually looking into treated pine for a small retaining wall with limited access but think we are going to try concrete sleeper lookalikes to avoid the pine issue. Of course living near the bush they don't burn, and I do know people who had treated pine in their garden who had a bushfire and swore no treated pine ever again as the fumes were apparently appalling for ages. My 2 cents worth, but given how slow Australia can be to ban chemicals the fact that they are getting strict about CCA treated pine should tell you something.

Hope this helps
Colleen

Originally Posted by colleend

but given how slow Australia can be to ban chemicals the fact that they are getting strict about CCA treated pine should tell you something.

Hope this helps
Colleen

Oh really! now what chemicals are we talking about .....D.D.T ( the banning of which was one of the worst environmental decisions we ever made).

Could you back up your arguments with some facts or referrals to scientific publications.

The CSIRO ..that's our peak scientific body BTW found that the banning of the use of CCA as a preservative of timber was not justified as there was no evidence that humans could be poisoned by coming into contact with such timber...sorry had to paraphrase , couldn't get hold of the fact sheet.

Its all too easy to get on the wagon and ban a chemical, but people should be aware that the alternatives may be worse. CCA treatment has been used world wide for over 40 years with no documented problems excepting when it is incinerated or otherwise disposed of in a manner that is illegal.

sorry Rant off.

Bleeding Thumb's got it right.

There is no sustainable evidence that Treated pine is dangerous once it has dried out.

Work methods state you should not handle treated pine while it is still wet from the treatment process

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

Oh really! now what chemicals are we talking about .....D.D.T ( the banning of which was one of the worst environmental decisions we ever made).

Could you back up your arguments with some facts or referrals to scientific publications.


sorry Rant off.

I was not particularly thinking of woodworking chemicals but I can chase up the evidence that there are a number of pesticides that are banned in Europe that are still available here. The same is true for a number of other chemicals. Although I don't have the scientific data to hand I would be surprised if you would argue that we are as quick as Europe to ban chemicals. I thought there was some evidence/ reasoning as to why CCA was banned for childrens playground but I admit I haven't seen anything from CSIRO etc (I'm not an expert), and I might point out that a large number of chemicals that were brought out many years ago never had to prove safety for small children. And it is a very well documented fact that children due to growing nervous systems and smaller size have lower thresholds for safety for lots of chemicals and medicines where they have been tested. Classic examples can include paracetamol to give you a simple home based chemical/ medicine.

Hi Everyone,

THank you in advance for any help you can provide me.

I've picked up woodwork over the past 8 months or so, and have really gotten into it. I've built a few things now and as I progress I'm getting a little more adventurous with what I'm attempting.

What I'm finding really difficult is finding large sheets of pine. I'm looking for the classic 19mm think, but I can't find anything wider than 240mm.

Does anyone know where in the sydney area I can get wider pieces than that? THere are a couple things I've wanted to build which I really can't without these bigger pieces.

Thank you.

Wasn't there a case in the papers last week about a family who had been burning treated pine in their fireplace, cant remember if one died but remaining members were pretty sick.

Originally Posted by prcwombat

..... I came across all these Australian sites that are declaring CCA treated pine to be indeed hazardous particularly to young children. I have a 15 month old baby daughter and I ask the question if this is truly the case why are the Chinese markets and buyers not being made aware of this? ....

I'd consider using other sources for safety info, rather than the Chinese! Think tainted milk powder and lead paint kids toys..... When I think public safety, my mind doesn't think China!