Think twice before using last summer's wood scraps to start the fires that will warm your hearth this winter. You could accidentally put your family and the environment in serious danger. Some types of scrap lumber can
be used as quick-starting kindling, but burning the following types of wood spells trouble.
Pressure-treated lumber
Never burn leftover scraps of pressure-treated lumber. These green and brown tinted woods, used most
commonly for building decks and other outdoor projects, are injected with copper and arsenic to prevent damage from rot and insects. Under normal circumstances, the toxins are chemically bonded to the wood so they won't escape, but
the heat of a fire breaks those bonds and could end up leaving you with a fireplace full of hazardous ash. Prolonged exposure to the ash can cause headaches, nosebleeds, skin rashes, blackouts, and even seizures.
Engineered wood, plywood, and fiberboard
Since these woods are usually held together with synthetic adhesives, they too should be kept away from the fireplace. They don't leave behind toxic ash, but the fumes from burning
adhesives can be poisonous if they're inhaled.
Soft wood species
You should limit the amount of soft wood you burn. While softer species don't pose any immediate threat to your home environment, they burn very quickly
and give off a lot of smoke. This can cause a buildup of creosote in your chimney, which increases the risk of chimney fires. |
