ECHA Biocidal Products Committee - Creosote approval with more stringent conditions proposed

 The Biocidal Products Committee supports the approval of the active substances:

(*) creosote for use as a wood preservative (product-type 8); and

(*) ethylene oxide for use as disinfectants and algaecides not intended for direct application to humans or animals (product-type 2).

Creosote is a wood preservative first approved as a biocide in 2011. It is used to treat electricity poles, railway sleepers, agricultural and equestrian fencing and poles used in vineyards. As it has carcinogenic; persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT); and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) properties, it meets the exclusion criteria for biocidal active substances. According to the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) it should be phased out and could only be approved if one of the derogations to exclusion is met. In this regard, the BPC has concluded that currently there are no suitable alternatives available for creosote and that accordingly its approval should be renewed. In addition, the committee has now proposed more stringent conditions for authorising biocidal products that contain creosote as well as for placing treated wood on the market.

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