# air pollution question...



## voner (Sep 28, 2010)

I live in the front Range of Colorado -- Air pollution is a huge deal here were overpopulated and we have these weather in versions in the winter that trap polluted air for days at a time..

So there is a local guy here who made this claim: to the question --_Isn't it unsafe to burn treated wood? _

here is his answer:

_I have been burning OSB plywood in my wood burning stove for nine years, but it is unsafe to burn the “Greenwood” I.E.: pressure treated lumber........._

With all the glues in the OSB plywood, I suspect this is a pretty ignorant statement.. 

Anybody out there educated in this?

Thanks in advance


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## semipro (Sep 28, 2010)

I'm not sure about OSB but burning the old style CCA (copper chromated arsenic) treated wood can cause problems. There are reports of those burning it suffering from arsenic poisoning.  The ashes are hazardous also.  I believe this type of treated wood is still sold for special uses like marine docks.  

I'm not sure what the new style ACQ aqueous copper quaternary would release if you burned it.  I suspect that burning OSB or other types of laminated wood glued together might release some nasty stuff also.


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## billb3 (Sep 28, 2010)

At one time there was concern about formeldahide off-gassing from plywood and maybe also OSB. 
By now I imagine much greener pine and starch based glues are used as with  much cardboard packaging.
But, there are so many types and manufacturers , you'd probably have to get a MSDS sheet for every type and brand to be sure.


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## soupy1957 (Sep 28, 2010)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......"we have these weather in versions in the winter that trap polluted air for days at a time.".......sounds like another thread I was recently contributing to.  Air inversion on a MASSIVE scale! Trapped smoke in the valley towns, between great mountain ranges........now THERE'S where I would expect an "air inversion." 

Don't burn anything treated............period!

-Soupy1957


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## voner (Sep 30, 2010)

soupy: 

i'd love to be directed to where I can find some details...

voner


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## midwestcoast (Oct 1, 2010)

I gotta say, I saw your question & thought I'd just quickly Google-up all the horrible by-products of OSB &  Plywood burning, but I really didn't find much with a couple searches. 
 Someone named Amy Green (presumably not her only enviro-credentials :roll:
) on greenhomeguide.com says "The two most common resins for binding OSB are polymeric diphenyl methane di-isocyanate (MDI) resin and phenolic resin"  I wouldn't be inclined to huff on the fumes from burning either, but didn't find and specifics.

A Fine Homebuilding article mentions a couple University studies that didn't find huge differences btwn OSB smoke & wood smoke, BUT this was for combustion at industrial boiler temperatures & air-rich combustion.  Pretty safe to assume those results are not applicable to this guys woodstove smoke.

My sister has a trailer in an RV park where folks go for summer weekends to relax, swim, fish, breath the fresh air... Her neigbors were burning chunks of laminate countertop in their fires all summer   :sick:


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## voner (Oct 1, 2010)

midwestcoast: thanks..  isocyanate... 

ignorance is rampant in society..... 

air pollution is a huge problem here.

still waiting for some science on this subject. 

I've put this out to some people in the air pollution business... maybe they can provide details,,.... anybody else know?????

here is info from an OSB industry pub: osbguide.tecotested.com/pdfs/en/tb118.pdf

////
After considerable study and sophisticated testing,
researchers under contract with SBA at the
Forintek Canada Corp. Eastern Laboratory in
Québec and the Minnesota Natural Resources
Research Institute (MNRRI) in Duluth, MN have
determined that there are no additional VOCs
released from OSB when it is burned or placed in
a landfill than what is released from solid wood.
Therefore they have concluded that OSB can be
safely disposed of in either manner.
///////////

surpising!


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## midwestcoast (Oct 4, 2010)

When the OSB was "burned" was it in a woodstove? burn-barrel? high-temb incinerator? More of the volatiles would have been burned in an incinerator & released in a burn-barrel.


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## webbie (Oct 4, 2010)

Weyerhauser says not to burn it....except in commercial and industrial incinerators. 

That ties in with the post above - that is, it would seem almost impossible to burn it at the right temps in a stove. That would mean a lot more pollution, most likely affecting people living close by more than the entire air shed (you'd have to have a lot of people burning a lot of it to affect a large air shed)


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