# How toxic are palings?



## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Recently I have been cutting pine palings up to turn into bird feeders. I was throwing the offcuts out, but a lot of them are just the right sizes and shapes for pre-school kids to play with. However I am not sure how safe they might be once kids start putting them in their mouth etc. The pine has that green colour of treated pine, and given that palings are exposed to the weather I assume there is some sort of treatment for the weather. Does anyone from Aus know if this pine might be ok for kids to play with? I know the kids will love playing with them, but I am reticent to give them to them unless I know they won't cause other problems. 

Darryl


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## MartinW (Jun 26, 2013)

Darryl,

two of your informations make me think, you probably shouldn't give them to the kids. (Pressure?) treated wood just isn't for being taken into the mouth by small kids, unless you reall know, the treatment is food- and kids safe (we have certain certificates over here to ensure that)

Just my 2 cents
Martin


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Darryl it is green because it is treated with copper so it is unsuitable for children or toys. NGM


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

If it is treated, I would say it is not only not suited for kids, it is probably not suited for the birds.


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## WurliTzerwilly (Jun 9, 2013)

darsev said:


> Recently I have been cutting pine palings up to turn into bird feeders. I was throwing the offcuts out, but a lot of them are just the right sizes and shapes for pre-school kids to play with. However I am not sure how safe they might be once kids start putting them in their mouth etc. The pine has that green colour of treated pine, and given that palings are exposed to the weather I assume there is some sort of treatment for the weather. Does anyone from Aus know if this pine might be ok for kids to play with? I know the kids will love playing with them, but I am reticent to give them to them unless I know they won't cause other problems.
> 
> Darryl


The treatment is usually with ARSENIC, although it's safe enough to touch on the outside. You should seal it where you cut it. Don't let kids chew it!
Pressure-Treated Wood FAQs


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## alaskagypsy (Jan 31, 2009)

*Same stuff in USA*

I know of an incident where a husband was being investigated for poisoning his wife with 'arsenic' after she made several trips to the emergency room/hospital. They were ready to arrest him when he came down with arsenic poisoning and was rushed to the hospital. Further investigations showed they were both working on a large deck addition to their house. They were cutting the 'treated' wood in an enclosed area without breathing masks. They nearly killed themselves installing a deck. Highly toxic. Not good for people or birds.


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## WurliTzerwilly (Jun 9, 2013)

alaskagypsy said:


> I know of an incident where a husband was being investigated for poisoning his wife with 'arsenic' after she made several trips to the emergency room/hospital. They were ready to arrest him when he came down with arsenic poisoning and was rushed to the hospital. Further investigations showed they were both working on a large deck addition to their house. They were cutting the 'treated' wood in an enclosed area without breathing masks. They nearly killed themselves installing a deck. Highly toxic. Not good for people or birds.


I think it's a bit safer now for working on, but not to be chewed. 
I was building a deck some years ago for a client and I made the really stupid mistake of allowing my finger to come in contact with a revolving planer blade. Fortunately the damage was minimal and I recovered fully, but when I rushed into the hospital they were scurrying around checking poisons data when I told them what I'd been planing. Again, fortunately there was no damage from arsenic, but they sure were worried.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

PT and I do not play nicely together at all... 
There must be others out there with the same issues... So why take the chance...
The chance of injuring just one child would be too much of risk for me...
Look how corrosive it is to standard fasteners and aluminum..
There are way too many Plan "B"'s to use instead...


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

WurliTzerwilly said:


> The treatment is usually with ARSENIC, although it's safe enough to touch on the outside. You should seal it where you cut it. *Don't let kids chew it!*
> Pressure-Treated Wood FAQs


good luck with that...


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Thanks everyone. That is pretty much what I suspected but was "afraid" to ask. In the bin with these scraps. I knew of the treatment for coppers logs and it's problems, but was wondering if something may have changed over the years. Obviously not enough in this area.

Again, thanks everyone.
Darryl


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Darryl; yes, it has changed, dramatically. The old CCA 40 and CCA 50 treated wood is no longer available, or at least not at the consumer/contractor level. It's the type that was Arsenic /Copper based (*C*opper *C*hromium *A*rsenic).
Utility Poles - Unframed CCA

A huge part of the problem with the CCA product was ground and ground water contamination from wet lumber dripping after leaving the treatment facility.
Playground contamination was the trigger for change.
The newer ACQ treatment that Stick referred to (here in N.A.) is what all our domestic framing treated framing lumber is subjected to.
Alkaline copper quaternary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The short answer though, Darryl, is unless you know for a fact that the lumber is uncontaminated, I wouldn't use it for anything that could be put into a kid's mouth...or any animals for that matter. Who knows what was stacked on it previously! Not just chemicals, biologicals as well. Rats and mice are notorious disease carriers, and are almost certain to have peeded on pallets at some point in their travels.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

darsev said:


> Thanks everyone. That is pretty much what I suspected but was "afraid" to ask. In the bin with these scraps. I knew of the treatment for coppers logs and it's problems, but was wondering if something may have changed over the years. Obviously not enough in this area.
> 
> Again, thanks everyone.
> Darryl


Darryl don't burn it !!!! NGM


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

neville9999 said:


> Darryl don't burn it !!!! NGM


It's already in the bin.


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## eccentrictinkerer (Dec 24, 2007)

I've learned two new terms from this thread today, 'palings' and 'coppers logs'.

My uncle Bud emigrated to Oz in the 1950's. On a his first return visit back to the States he said that the USA and Australia are two countries separated by a common language!

Thanks for your posts, Darryl!


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## OPG3 (Jan 9, 2011)

Darryl, I do not know what the rules are for treated wood in Australia, but here in Georgia, it is sent to "inert landfills". Nobody I know of uses it for contact with skin and it's not even smart to burn the stuff. Matter of fact, it isn't very durable since the formula they're using now went into place. 

Arsenical toxins are accumulative and once in your body they stay there, once your body has reached its limit, the "lights go out". Only thing I know that removes some of a person's accumulated arsenic is called chelation, and it's not available for D-I-Y use!

Please put that treated lumber back in the dumpster where it belongs!

Otis Guillebeau from Auburn, Georgia


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