Northumberland, UK - Claims that the UK will ban the sale of reclaimed railway sleepers in June are not accurate. The claims were made in an article which appeared on 15 February 2003 in the Telegraph.
An EU directive seeks to protect the public from benzopyrene found in creosote which, according to one German study, is now more harmful than previously thought. Benzopyrene is a carcinogen found in coal tar derivatives like creosote, as well as in cigarettes, and hamburgers cooked on charcoal-fired barbecues.
The directive, which was published for consultation by the DTI (closing date 2 Feb 2003), has an exemption for reclaimed railway sleepers and other creosote-laden wood which says:
'3.9 Wood treated with the substances listed in . . . Directive 2001/90/EC.
The prohibition . . . on placing on the market, does not apply where wood so treated is placed on the second hand market for re-use. Uses for which wood referred to . . . may not be used:
- inside buildings, whatever their purpose
- in toys
- in playgrounds
- in parks, gardens, and outdoor recreational leisure facilities where there is a risk of frequent skin contact
- in the manufacture of garden furniture such as picnic tables,
- for the manufacture and use and any re-treatment of containers intended for growing purposes, packaging that may come into contact with raw materials, intermediate or finished products destined for human and/or animal consumption
- other materials which may contaminate the products mentioned above.'
It may be prudent for dealers to write the clauses above into terms of sale of all railway sleepers or other wood impregnated with creosote from now on, and to display prominent notices to that effect in their yards. The recommendations are ones which appear to be common sense and which most dealers would concur with as far as we know.
Notes:
1. Salvo has been told of rumours that a UK study shows that where creosote impregnated timbers are in contact with the soil, an organism that thrives on benzopyrene neutralises the creosote over time. If this is the case clearly reuse along traditional lines is the best thing that could happen to an old railway sleeper.
2. Low temperature burning of old railway sleepers, as happened with Foot and Mouth Disease, was believed to create dioxin plumes in the surrounding countryside.
3. Some carcinogens act as tumour initiators (X-ray, UV light, nitrosamines, benzopyrene and viruses), while others act as promoters (caffeine, fat and TPA). At the molecular level, if doses are high enough, initiators alone can begin tumourigenesis, otherwise promoters must additionally be involved.
4. The incineration temperature required to destroy in excess of 99 per cent of benzopyrene is 250 degC to 350 degC. Not sure what happens to the remaining one per cent, but it, and any nasties like dioxin, would definitely be destroyed by being heated for 2 seconds at 8500degC.
5. The directives under which these proposals are being made are COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 2001/90/EC of 26 October 2001 and Marketing & Use Directive 76/769/EEC (Creosote). The consultation deadline for this issue was 2 February 2003. We believe that the UK government has not consulted the UK reclamation industry. For further information contact David Jenkinson CCP6d, Room 432, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET. Tel: 020 7215 0366. Fax: 020 7215 0357. Email: david.jenkinson@dti.gsi.gov.uk
[Thanks to Jemma at Masco for emailing the Tel article. Please send any comments about the above to tk@salvoweb.com but only if you are prepared for them to be retransmitted or published in SalvoNEWS.
The original Telegraph article
UK DTI EU and creosote page
Story Type: News
ID: 8775
