Burning wood from the garden in a stove

Should_be_out_gardening

His all , I have been reading this part of the forum for ages but never felt the need to join in , it's all covered better than I could put it. But over in *up your income* we were talking about making money on the side and I was saying how I have been selling kindling and logs etc. I took it for granted that everyone knows not to burn treated wood , like decking and wood tinged green etc , in household wood burners.

The wood when bought has treatments on it to combat decay and pests and it contains arsenic, not a problem with the wood but when burnt it releases the arsenic as ash. This ash is poisonous on the garden and not good to handle.

I really suspect that many with wood burners know this but I have had nagging doubts that with the latest move to save money many may not be aware of this. Decking wood etc is great in the garden and offcuts are always useful and last ages even in the wettest conditions.

Pine etc is OK from Xmas trees and cut down conifers but don't use it all the time as it coast the flue with resin and can cause fire.

Hopefully all this is well known and my worry is unfounded - if so ignore and I'll go back to lurking!

Cheers.

fwor

I'm not going to suggest that people are complacent or careless about this, but...

This subject was raised in conversation by the contractor that replaced my fence last year - and who took away the old treated posts to burn in his wood burner.

He told me that he'd seen studies which showed that anything more than about 10 years old has only trace levels of arsenic left in it, as it leaches out continuously while the wood weathers.

Anything much less than 10 years old should have no arsenic in it at all, as it was banned in Europe for domestic applications in 2003.

As I said, I'm not suggesting complacency, but I'd also suggest that it's probably not an issue to get too worried about (for example if you've been burning treated wood for years and think you might have poisoned your garden with the ash!)

Should_be_out_gardening

fwor wrote: »

I'm not going to suggest that people are complacent or careless about this, but...

This subject was raised in conversation by the contractor that replaced my fence last year - and who took away the old treated posts to burn in his wood burner.

He told me that he'd seen studies which showed that anything more than about 10 years old has only trace levels of arsenic left in it, as it leaches out continuously while the wood weathers.

Anything much less than 10 years old should have no arsenic in it at all, as it was banned in Europe for domestic applications in 2003.

As I said, I'm not suggesting complacency, but I'd also suggest that it's probably not an issue to get too worried about (for example if you've been burning treated wood for years and think you might have poisoned your garden with the ash!)

I'm not sure about that - a quick google says CCA , chromated copper arsenate is safe for use in public things according to this PDF from europe

http://www.wood-protection.org/press_releases/PR07_european_union_CCA_restrictions.pdf

It is in use and is safe , but if we burn it we can release those chemicals. I was told this ages ago when I got the stove and when I ask people seem to know this but when pressed I'm not so sure.

The good thing is talking about it can raise awareness and folk can google and make up their own mind. Personally I use the ash on the garden plus I add it to earth I have reclaimed after sieving along with compost, you know the stiff that gets dug up under old slabs and after a big weed clearance of waste ground.

savemoney

I never burn wood that I suspect of having any chemicals on them. I got rid of some old logs given that were telegraph pole they stunk of creosote.

martinthebandit

we burn the lot on ours, treated, painted whatever, it all goes in the log burner, however any ash that is left goes in the bin, not on the garden.

If the arsnic doesn't get me I will live till I die

Should_be_out_gardening

martinthebandit wrote: »

we burn the lot on ours, treated, painted whatever, it all goes in the log burner, however any ash that is left goes in the bin, not on the garden.

If the arsnic doesn't get me I will live till I die

Its just the green tananlised stuff you should worry about I reckon. How often do you come across it. it's if you get the ash on the hands,

What you want - probably missed it now is get the old Xmas trees for kindling, really sappy and catches great!

mrbadexample

I burn stuff on an outdoor chimenea. I burn old pallets and such like mostly - don't think I've had any treated timber. Is there any reason why I shouldn't put the ash on the garden (or in my case, on the compost heap), once I've removed the nails, of course?