Wood is an excellent building material. The wood is strong, light, easily processed by a manual tool and is a relatively cheap building material. The only problem of the tree is that a large number of bacteria, fungi and insects find it appetizing. When the wood is in contact with the ground or in moisture for any period of time, these organisms attack it. An unprocessed tree like a pine tree will just spin a year or two if it comes into contact with wet soil.
But in the country we often need to use wood. Construction of the fence, installation of a greenhouse and so on – all this tree in the ground. And then the wood processed by preservatives and pressure comes to the rescue.
Chrome, copper and arsenic.
In the process of processing, lumber is sealed in the tank where the air is assembled, leaving the vacuum. A solution containing chrome, copper and arsenic are added to impregnate wood. Chrome is bactericidal (protects against bacteria), copper in fungicidna (protects against fungi), and arsenic is an insecticide (kills insects). All three are toxic, but chrome and copper do not raise as many questions as arsenic.
If you do not inhale chrome, it is not particularly harmful to you, and copper is not too toxic for mammals, although it is harmful to water organisms and fungi. But thersenic is alarming.
The wood treated with chemicals is usually not very good for people, so we do not advise leaving gloves on the fence, breathing sawdust when you try to chop the old boards from the greenhouse and refrain from burning wood processed with chemistry.
But is everything so bad?
There is arsenic everywhere. If this gray, metal -like element is combined with oxygen, chlorine and sulfur, it is considered an inorganic arsenic. If carbon is part of the combination, then arsenic becomes organic. The inorganic form of arsenic is dangerous for a person. And it is just used in wood processing. Inorganic arsenic accumulates in living tissues, where it interacts with cell enzymes and worsens the metabolism. But we are susceptible to organic arsenic every day – through the soil, water and food, but it is largely disappeared earlier than causing us harm.
As for the inorganic arsenic, some scientists say that we can consume a certain amount (up to 0.3 μg in knocks per kilogram of weight) and it will not affect health. Roughly speaking, what the specialist says – an average woman who has 60 kg of weight will have to eat 18 micrograms of arsenic per day for many years to feel negative consequences. That is, processed wood in a fence or greenhouse is unlikely to damage your health, but it will save your structure from pests.