Creosote-treated wood poles and crossarms: Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) results. Interim report

The objective of this study was to develop a quantitative database on leachable concentrations of cresols (i.e., m-, o- and p-cresol isomers) from a population of creosote-treated utility wood poles and crossarms by application of the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). The TCLP was promulgated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March 1990 (55FR 11798). Data generated in this study indicate that creosote-treated utility poles and crossarms are non-hazardous. Measured concentrations of total cresols and other semi-volatile organic compounds, from wood subjected to TCLP analysis, were an order of magnitude or more below their current Toxicity Characteristic (TC) regulatory levels. The wood analyzed in this study consisted of 54 samples of wood poles and 6 crossarms. Subsamples, removed from full cross sectional slices of poles and crossarms, were prepared according to EPA procedures, subjected to the TCLP, and the resultant leachates analyzed for the presence of cresols and other semi-volatile compounds.