Idahonative
Addicted to ArboristSite
What is a "carcinogen"?? Well, simply put... something that causes cancer in humans.
What sort of creosote is used to treat railroad ties in the United States?? Answer... coal-tar creosote.
What is coal-tar creosote?? Basically the heavier oils derived from carbonization of bituminous coal.
Is coal-tar creosote carcinogenic to humans??
Now... what about the smoke from burning it. Well, basically, burning coal-tar creosote is the same thing as burning coal... coal-tar creosote is coal with the lighter gases and coke removed (nothing, absolutely nothing carcinogenic is added).
- The International Agency For Research On Cancer smeared coal-tar creosote on shaved lab rats for several weeks, eventually sores developed on the skin (none died). Based on that they determined that coal-tar creosote probably is carcinogenic to humans. WTF?? Shaved lab rats coated in creosote for weeks developed sores on the skin... what a friggin' surprise.
- The EPA states that coal-tar creosote is a probable human carcinogen based on animal and human studies. What studies?? Well, we have the lab rats above... and a 2005 study of creosote workers that found no (none, zip, zilch, nada) evidence supporting an increased risk of cancer death.
So now, I just gotta' ask... if a fella' burns coal in his wood/coal fired OWB, is he being reckless??
OK, so it stinks when burned, even makes smoke... but smoke and stink, in and of itself, ain't a carcinogen... smoke is mostly carbon (particulates, not necessarily carcinogens). For the most part, carcinogens emitted by combustion are invisible and odorless to human senses.
I got news for ya'... too much of anything ain't good for ya'... I can show ya' studies that conclude having sex is probably carcinogenic to humans... even more so than burning railroad ties.
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." - H.L. Mencken
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Spidey, you can argue what is or isn't a carcinogen all day long but you are missing the bigger picture. Taking the position that one should be able to burn whatever they want, whenever they want, is really pointing a gun at the heads of all of us wood burners. If you or anyone else chooses to burn railroad ties, trash, carpet, tires, asphalt shingles, etc, you are helping to load the guns of the people who are against us. You are begging for more regulations which you, of all people, hate so much (& I'm with you on that). If everyone had that mentality, our days of burning wood would surely be numbered.
I believe in freedom just like you. But the fact is, we have over 7 billion people on the face of the earth right now. Can you imagine what kind of a world we would live in if only a small percentage of those people thought it was ok to burn whatever they want? I believe it's the responsibility of all of us wood burners to burn as cleanly (less particulate) as we can with whatever equipment we own. It's just common sense.