Is It Safe To Burn Treated Wood In A Campfire?

The full question posed to me on Quora recently was “Is it safe to burn treated lumber from wood pallets on a campfire or bonfire? Would it be considered environmentally friendly since it is being discarded otherwise?“

My short answer was a quick “Oh hell no…”

The reason being is that treated wood is full of chemicals that you really don’t want to be breathing. Some of these include:

Alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ)

Chromated-copper arsenate (CCA)

Copper azole (CA)

Micronized copper azole (MCA)

Pentachlorophenol (PCP)

Borate

These are all good things if you want to prevent mold and bacteria from eating your wood.

A little searching later and it looks like breathing in the smoke from treated wood can lead to respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and even long-term health issues like cancer due to exposure to carcinogens.

If that weren’t bad enough, since the metals in the treated wood don’t burn, the ash is now toxic to the environment.

Short answer, treated wood is a necessary evil for building structures that don’t rot as quickly, but you should not burn treated wood in a campfire.