Tanalith E in internal space of a self-build camper truck

[acecard]

Hi all,

I’ve scoured the internet to find an answer to this but for every “it’s safe” opinion, you find an “it’s not safe” opinion; thought I’d turn here! One thing that is really annoying and confusing is that a lot of the “articles” that talk about this stuff still relates to CCA, and not the newly adopted Tanalith E. Also not sure how many of these articles are factual or just "fun-reading".

Right, so I’m building a live-in vehicle on the back of a 12 ton truck, doing all the internal wall framing with timber. I started by using untreated timber but then noticed that it was looking a bit mouldy in places and felt quite damp to touch (I have no workshop and am building it outside so quite high humidity). Noting all the info saying that it is safe to use for indoors applications, I switched to treated timber after careful consideration to give a little more protection against the conditions, not only during the build, but also after because live-in vehicles have the potential for damp due to internal condensation. Fast-forward a few months and lots of timber later, I’m starting to have a few worries and doubting the decision I took so much time over! I’m not worried about oral ingestion as none of the applications are in places that will be in contact with food, and pretty much all of it will be either clad over with other wood or finishings, and anything that isn’t covered will be stained/painted. My concern is around “off-gassing” of the framework under the cladded wood and therefore contamination of the indoor air quality. My fears are because the typical “treated timber smell” seems to be lingering, and my opinion is that if I can smell it, it must be off-gassing! So i guess my questions are:

1) Am I being paranoid?!
2) Will this smell linger indefinitely or will it dissapate?
3) Are we in danger of living within a box that has Tanalith E wood off-gassing all around us?
4) Is there any thing that I could/should paint over the wood to “lock in” the smell?

Any ideas much appreciated!

 

[foxhole]

Timber framed house? Is that not a box, with much higher volume of treated timber in it .

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I suppose it all depends on whether or not you like the smell of pizza dough. Seriously, though, have you pulled up the CoSHH sheets for Tanalith E and read them? Basically the people most at risk are those who treat timbers and/or saw large quantities of it and are therefore liable to have skin or eye contact with it (gloves and goggles always recommended when sawing it, clothing to be washed after use). Other than that its generally considered to be fairly benign and safe enough to make childrens' play area seating with, etc. Normally the oils in it seem to dry out after 3 to 6 months and it smells a lot less then

 

[acecard]

Timber framed house? Is that not a box, with much higher volume of treated timber in it .

I thought only certain parts of a timber framed house were from treated timber?

 

[acecard]

I suppose it all depends on whether or not you like the smell of pizza dough. Seriously, though, have you pulled up the CoSHH sheets for Tanalith E and read them? Basically the people most at risk are those who treat timbers and/or saw large quantities of it and are therefore liable to have skin or eye contact with it (gloves and goggles always recommended when sawing it, clothing to be washed after use). Other than that its generally considered to be fairly benign and safe enough to make childrens' play area seating with, etc. Normally the oils in it seem to dry out after 3 to 6 months and it smells a lot less then

Yeah I looked at as much of the "data" as I could. It was just the smell that really gets me thinking. It smells quite strongly in there right now. But to be honest, there is a lot of damp in there right now as it's not insulated or sealed up yet, so the wood still feels quite damp to the touch. I had a random off-cut in my house and took a whiff of that and couldn't really detect anything different, so I guess you are right and it must be down to it smelling a lot more when wet.

 

[foxhole]

I thought only certain parts of a timber framed house were from treated timber?

Yes, just the entire frame.