Is it safe to burn painted wood: a detailed answer

Is it safe to burn painted wood? House renovation is always a time-consuming and complicated project. And the worst thing about it is that after you’re finished you’ll end up with a big pile of construction garbage. What is the proper way to dispose of it? Any plastic, metal, or ceramic debris should probably be brought to a landfill or a recycling facility. But what about the varnished and painted wood? Can you just burn it? Let’s find out.

Is burning painted wood safe?

No. It is not safe for your health to burn painted wood.

The reason for that is pretty simple. Burning painted wood will produce toxic fumes which can later be inhaled by you, your family members, and the other people of your community.

If you’re in good health, you might not feel the nasty consequences right away. Some nausea and mild headaches are the worst symptoms a healthy adult might experience. However, that doesn’t mean that there will be no long-term harm to your organism.

Besides, we’re talking about adults but what about children?

If you have kids, you might wanna think twice before burning painted wood. The toxic chemicals from the smoke are ten times more dangerous for a developing young organism. Lung problems, liver damage, cardiovascular diseases, and brain damage. And this is not even a comprehensive list of all the problems that can be caused by toxic smoke.

Burning wood outside

What if your kids are in a summer camp, your wife’s out shopping, you’re as healthy as an ox, and there is a perfectly good fire pit in your backyard? Certainly burning painted wood in the open air is a lot safer. Right? Right?

Not really. Of course burning painted wood outside is a bit safer than burning it indoors, say in a wood stove. However, it is not much of an improvement. It’s like saying that shooting yourself in the leg is safer than shooting yourself in the head. You can be sure that you will inhale a lot of the harmful toxins regardless of where you decide to burn painted wood.

In addition to that, a solid waste bonfire will not improve the relationships with your neighbors. You see, the toxins released in such a fire are also called volatile organic compounds. Volatile in this context means that they evaporate very easily. But the word also means flying or floating, and that’s no good.

The harmful substances released after you burn painted wood can travel miles away from the burn pile. A cloud of this stuff will certainly land on your neighbor’s house, but it will also fly to other parts of town significantly degrading the air quality in the area.

Legality

You could already probably tell where this is going. If you’re still willing to jeopardize your health and the health of those around you by burning painted wood the authorities may interfere.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) oversees the disposal of dangerous chemical compounds.

According to DNR’s air quality rules and the solid waste regulations, unauthorized burning of chemically treated is prohibited in all states.

The penalties may vary depending on your state of residence as well as the severity of the crime. In some states, like Washington, for example, you might be fined $10,000 or more. In Texas, you might even end up in prison, especially if that’s not your first offense or if the fire got out of control.

So as you can tell burning painted wood is a bad idea through and through. But wait a minute! The air quality rules don’t mention anything about paint. It says ‘treated wood’. What does that mean?

Not just paint

But what about the unpainted wood? Even if a piece of wood does not have any paint on it, I still don’t recommend you burn it.

The thing is that, as you might know, before wood is painted it is coated with finishes and primers. These substances play very important roles. Without the primer, for instance, the paint will fall off the wood within weeks or even days.

The finishes are also essential. They significantly extend the life of the wood objects by protecting them from rot, parasites (like termites), as well as the elements.

Unfortunately, burning primed or finished wood will also release harmful fumes. So pretty much any old wood, be it painted wood planks or just regular wood pallets is not safe to burn.

Safe wood

What wood is safe to burn? What if you just want to relax in front of a fireplace? How can you tell if the wood is safe to burn?

Pretty much any wood that was not intended to be burnt isn’t safe. Old planks, wooden furniture, plywood, etc., etc are always treated with some kind of chemical.

The rule of thumb here is to only use firewood.

Firewood is dry wood specifically processed to be used as fuel. Wait a minute! Processed? Does that mean that there are more chemicals involved? Not at all.

Before a tree can be burned it needs to be cut up into smaller chunks and dried up, or seasoned. Seasoning reduces the moisture content in the wood so that it can burn longer and brighter. Not surprisingly, dry wood burns better than fresh wet logs.

The dangers of paint

Is paint safe in the first place? Yes. Modern paints like water-based paint, for example, are perfectly safe. They only become toxic when you burn them. It hasn’t always been the case though.

For instance, lead-based paint, which was very common back in the day, could cause all sorts of health problems. Fortunately, the use and production of lead paints were banned all across the country in the early 1970s.

Even though modern paints are safe, it does not mean that you can stay in a freshly painted room all day. With long enough exposure, you can give yourself chemical poisoning.

So it’s better to always take necessary precautions if you’re working with paint.

Only paint in a well-ventilated room, wear a mask, and take a break now and then.

Conclusion

So is it safe to burn painted wood? No. Burning painted wood is illegal as well as dangerous. The toxic fumes released into the air will lead to serious health complications.

So it’s better to avoid burning painted wood and dispose of the painted wood in some other way. For instance, you can dump painted wood and other unwanted materials in a landfill. Another great idea would be transporting the painted wood to a recycling facility.

FAQ