he rules in the creosote area include chemical substances and mixtures containing creosote, as well as goods treated with creosote-containing products. These typically include wood preservatives, railway sleepers, wooden poles, fence posts and other wooden goods.
What is the purpose of the rules?
Creosote contains, among other things, benzo-a-pyrene, which is carcinogenic. Contact with creosote can also cause allergic contact dermatitis. The rules are designed to prevent people from being harmed by contact with creosote or goods treated with creosote-containing products.
What do the rules say?
It is prohibited to import, sell and use chemical substances and mixtures containing creosote. The same applies to goods treated with creosote. By creosote we mean, among other things, creosote, creosote oil, coal tar, naphthalene oil, acenaphthene oil, anthracene oil and tar acids.
Are there exceptions to the rule?
Wood preservatives Under certain circumstances, substances and mixtures with creosote may be sold and used for wood protection. However, before use against rot and fungus, they must first be approved under the pesticide legislation. Currently, there are no approved products in Denmark.
Used wood, treated with creosote Wood, which was treated before December 31, 2002, may generally be marketed and used when the wood has previously been in use and it is marketed on the used market for recycling.
However, it is forbidden to use this wood:
Inside buildings, regardless of purpose In toys and playgrounds In parks, gardens and outdoor recreational facilities, if there is a risk of frequent skin contact For garden furniture For containers for cultivation or for packaging or other things that can come into contact with raw materials or finished products for food or feed. This means, for example, that old railway sleepers may only be used in private gardens if there is no risk of frequent skin contact.
New wood New wood, treated with wood preservative with creosote in industrial facilities, may only be sold and used for commercial and industrial purposes, for example for railways, for electricity and telecommunications transmission, for agricultural fencing and in ports and internal waterways, provided this wood is marketed for the first time, or treated on site.
The wood preservatives may contain up to 0.005 mass percent (50 ppm) benzo-a-pyrene and under three (3) weight percent water-extractable tar acid.
The same usage restrictions apply to new wood treated with creosote as to used wood treated with creosote, which means that it is forbidden to use it:
Inside buildings, regardless of purpose In toys and playgrounds In parks, gardens and outdoor recreational facilities, if there is a risk of frequent skin contact For garden furniture For containers for cultivation or for packaging or other things that can come into contact with raw materials or finished products for food or feed.
Who is responsible?
Anyone who imports, sells or uses creosote, or goods treated with creosote-containing mixtures, must comply with the rule, as it appears from the legislation.
Control
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency's Chemical Inspection supervises compliance with the rule and can issue injunctions or prohibitions. Violation can lead to a fine or, in particularly serious cases, imprisonment for up to two years.
More information
The EU's rules regarding creosote are described in the REACH Regulation, Annex XVII, Entry 31.
The European rules are supplemented by the Danish "Order on restriction of the sale and use of creosote". (Legal Information website).