What is creosote oil used for? Is it dangerous?
It used to be very common to use it for preserving posts and wood that came in contact with the ground or in water like piers. Then they came up with the green pressure treated wood instead because Creosote was just too dangerous and toxic. It got into the ground water and was a skin irritant. But it is still around in every wood burning chimney as the residue from burning wood. It coats the inside of the pipe and maybe even blocking up the pipe when it sort of crystallizes. It’s one of the leading causes of chimney fires, when you don’t clean it out often enough and the flames heat it up and it catches on fire. Chimney sweeps who clean them out have often gotten scrotum cancer from the creosote if they don’t take precautions to keep it from contacting their skin.
