PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

This Public Health Statement is the summary 

chapter from the Toxicological Profile for Creosote. 

It is one in a series of Public Health Statements 

about hazardous substances and their health effects. 

A shorter version, the ToxFAQsTM is also available. 

This information is important because this 

substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to 

any hazardous substance depend on the dose, the 

duration, how you are exposed, personal traits and 

habits, and whether other chemicals are present. For 

more information, call the ATSDR Information 

Center at 1-888-422-8737. 

_____________________________________ 

This public health statement tells you about 

creosote and the effects of exposure. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

identifies the most serious hazardous waste sites in 

the nation. These sites make up the National 

Priorities List (NPL) and are the sites targeted for 

long-term federal cleanup activities. Coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, and coal tar pitch have been 

found in at least 46 of the 1,613 current or former 

NPL sites. However, the total number of NPL sites 

evaluated for these substances is not known. As 

more sites are evaluated, the sites at which coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, and coal tar pitch are found may 

increase. This information is important because 

exposure to coal tar creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, 

or coal tar pitch volatiles may harm you and 

because these sites may be sources of exposure. 

When a substance is released from a large area, 

such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such 

as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment. This 

release does not always lead to exposure. You are 

exposed to a substance only when you come in 

contact with it. You may be exposed by breathing, 

eating, or drinking the substance, or by skin contact. 

If you are exposed to wood creosote, coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, or coal tar pitch 

volatiles, many factors determine whether you'll be 

harmed. These factors include the dose (how much), 

the duration (how long), and how you come in 

contact with them. You must also consider the other 

chemicals you're exposed to and your age, sex, diet, 

family traits, lifestyle, and state of health. 

 

1.1 WHAT IS CREOSOTE? 

Creosote is the name used for a variety of products 

that are mixtures of many chemicals. Wood 

creosotes are derived from the resin from leaves of 

the creosote bush (Larrea, referred to herein as 

creosote bush resin) and beechwood (Fagus, 

referred to herein as beechwood creosote). Coal tars 

are by-products of the carbonization of coal to 

produce coke or natural gas. Coal tar creosotes are 

distillation products of coal tar, and coal tar pitch is 

a residue produced during the distillation of coal tar. 

Coal tar pitch volatiles are compounds given off 

from coal tar pitch when it is heated. Coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, and coal tar pitch 

volatiles are rarely formed in nature. Coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, and coal tar pitch are mixtures of 

similar compounds. For this reason, many times 

throughout the profile, we will refer to coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, and coal tar pitch simply as 

creosote. Creosotes are created by high-temperature 

treatment of beech and other woods (beechwood 

creosote) or coal (coal tar creosote), or from the 

resin of the creosote bush (creosote bush resin). 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

Wood creosote is a colorless to yellowish greasy 

liquid with a characteristic smoky odor and sharp 

burned taste. It is relatively soluble in water. 

Creosote prepared from coal tar is the most 

common form of creosote in the workplace and at 

hazardous waste sites in the United States. Coal tar 

creosote is a thick, oily liquid that is typically amber 

to black in color. It is easily set on fire and does not 

dissolve easily in water. Coal tar and coal tar pitch 

are the by-products of the high-temperature 

treatment of coal to make coke or natural gas. They 

are usually thick, black or dark brown liquids or 

semisolids with a smoky or aromatic odor. Coal tar 

residues can also be found in the chimneys of 

homes heated with coal, especially if insufficient 

oxygen is present. Chemicals in the coal tar pitch 

can be given off into the air as coal tar pitch 

volatiles when coal tar pitch is heated. 

Beechwood creosote has been used as a 

disinfectant, a laxative, and a cough treatment. In 

the past, treatments for leprosy, pneumonia, and 

tuberculosis also involved eating or drinking 

beechwood creosote. It is rarely used today in the 

United States by doctors since it has been replaced 

by better medicines, and it is no longer produced by 

businesses in the United States. It is still available 

as an herbal remedy, and is used as an expectorant 

and a laxative in Japan. The major chemicals in 

beechwood creosote are phenol, cresols, and 

guaiacol. 

Coal tar creosote is the most widely used wood 

preservative in the United States. It is also a 

restricted-use pesticide, so it can be used only by 

people who have been trained to use it safely. Coal 

tar products are ingredients in medicines used to 

treat skin diseases such as psoriasis. These products 

are also used as animal and bird repellents, 

insecticides, animal dips, and fungicides. Coal tar, 

coal tar pitch, and coal tar pitch volatiles are used or 

produced in several industries, including road 

paving, roofing, aluminum smelting, rubber 

producing, and coking. The major chemicals in coal 

tar creosote, coal tar, and coal tar pitch that can 

cause harmful health effects are polycyclic aromatic 

hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenol, and cresols. Coal tar 

pitch volatiles vary depending on the makeup of the 

coal tar product that is being heated. About 300 

chemicals have been identified in coal tar creosote, 

but as many as 10,000 other chemicals may be in 

this mixture. Because coal tar creosote is the major 

type found in the environment and at hazardous 

waste sites in the United States, we will emphasize 

its effects on human health in this profile. The 

health effects of coal tar and coal tar pitch will also 

be described. 

This profile is specifically about the toxicity of 

Creosote, so we will not discuss in detail the health 

effects of individual chemicals in them, such as 

PAHs or phenol. In the chapters describing what 

happens to creosote in the environment and 

exposure to creosote, we will discuss some of the 

individual chemicals or groups of chemicals (such 

as PAHs) because many of the tests done in the 

scientific laboratories can tell us which of these 

chemicals are present in the soil, water, and air. 

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry (ATSDR) Toxicological Profile for 

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (1995), the 

ATSDR Toxicological Profile for Cresols (1992), 

and the ATSDR Toxicological Profile for Phenol 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

(1998) provide more information on these 

chemicals. 

 

1.2 WHAT HAPPENS TO CREOSOTE WHEN 

IT ENTER THE ENVIRONMENT? 

No information is available on what happens to 

wood creosote when it enters the environment. Coal 

tar creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, and coal tar 

pitch volatiles do not occur in the environment 

naturally, but are by-products produced in coke or 

gas manufacturing plants using high-temperature 

processes. Coal tar creosote is released to water and 

soil mainly as a result of its use in the wood 

preservation industry. In the past, waste water from 

wood-treatment facilities was often discharged to 

unlined lagoons where it formed a sludge. Also, 

companies that preserve wood with coal tar creosote 

may treat their water wastes in treatment plants or 

release the waste water to the municipal water 

treatment system. This is still the largest source of 

coal tar creosote in the environment. However, new 

restrictions from EPA have caused changes in the 

treatment methods that have decreased the amount 

of creosote available to move into soil from waste 

water effluents. Coal tar creosote contains some 

components that dissolve in water and some that do 

not. Coal tar creosote components that dissolve in 

water may move through the soil to eventually 

reach and enter the groundwater, where they may 

persist. Once in the groundwater, breakdown may 

take years. Most of the components that are not 

water soluble will remain in place in a tar-like mass. 

Migration from the site of contamination is not 

extensive. Breakdown in soil can take months for 

some components of coal tar creosote, and much 

longer for others. Sometimes, the small amounts of 

chemical remaining in the soil or water that take a 

long time to break down are still toxic to some 

animals and possibly to humans. Coal tar creosote 

components may also be found in the soil as a result 

of leaking or seeping from treated timber. 

Volatile chemicals in coal tar creosote may 

evaporate and enter the air. About 1-2% of the coal 

tar creosote applied to treated wood is released to 

the air. This is a small amount compared with the 

amount of coal tar creosote found in waste water or 

soil. Volatile chemicals in coal tar and coal tar pitch 

are released into the environment in a similar way. 

They are most often found in and around coke- or 

natural gas-producing factories, in industrial plants 

where coal tar and coal tar sludges are used, or at 

abandoned coke or gas factory sites. Water or soil 

surrounding these areas may contain detectable 

levels of coal tar or coal tar pitch. 

Once coal tar creosote is in the environment, both 

plants and animals can absorb parts of the creosote 

mixture. Some components of coal tar creosote have 

been found in plants exposed to creosote-treated 

wood in nearby soil. The plants absorb very little 

(less than 0.5% of the amount available to the 

plant). Animals such as voles, crickets, snails, pill 

bugs, and worms take up coal tar creosote 

components from the environment that are passed 

into the body through skin, lungs, or stomachs. 

Animals that live in the water, such as crustacea, 

shellfish, and worms, also take up coal tar creosote 

compounds. For instance, mussels attached to 

creosote-treated pilings and snails and oysters living 

in water near a wood-treatment plant had creosote 

in their tissues. Coal tar creosote components are 

also broken down by microorganisms living in the 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

soil and natural water. The components of coal tar 

and coal tar pitch move in the environment in a 

similar way. 

1.3 HOW MIGHT I BE EXPOSED TO 

CREOSOTE? 

Most people are exposed to very low levels of 

creosote. People who are exposed to higher 

concentrations than the general population are those 

exposed to creosote in their jobs and those who use 

products that contain creosote to improve a health 

problem such as eczema or psoriasis. 

Some people are exposed to creosote by using 

shampoos for psoriasis that contain creosote. Herbal 

remedies containing the leaves from the creosote 

bush (chaparral) are available as a dietary 

supplement and are a source of exposure to wood 

creosote. People who drink chaparral tea could be 

exposed to wood creosote. Hazardous waste sites 

are a major source of contamination with creosote, 

coal tar, and coal tar pitch. Individuals working in 

the wood-preserving industry make up the largest 

part of the population that might be exposed to coal 

tar creosote. Individuals who live in areas that used 

to be sites of wood-preserving facilities may be 

exposed if the soil was never cleaned up. The most 

common way that creosote will enter the body when 

it is present in soils is through the skin. In addition, 

children may also ingest creosote if they put their 

unwashed hands in their mouths after touching soil 

or wood contaminated with creosote. The most 

common way that it will enter the body for 

individuals in the wood-preserving industry is 

through the lungs. 

Asphalt workers; rubber, aluminum, iron, steel, and 

tire factory workers; and people working in the 

coke-producing industries are also at risk for 

potential exposure to coal tar pitch and coal tar 

pitch volatiles. They may breathe in vapors from or 

have direct skin contact with wood-preservation 

solutions, freshly treated wood, asphalt mixtures, or 

other products of coke-producing industries. 

Workers who use creosote-treated wood in building 

fences, bridges, or railroad tracks or installing 

telephone poles may be exposed; those who inspect 

or maintain these materials, or apply asphalt or 

other coal tar pitch-containing materials, may also 

be exposed. Homeowners, farmers, or landscapers 

who apply coal tar creosote to wood in 

noncommercial settings using a brush or dip 

procedure (which is no longer allowed by law 

unless you have been trained to safely use creosote 

as a wood preservative), or who use railroad ties or 

telephone poles in landscaping, or who reclaim 

scrap lumber from a treated structure may also be 

exposed. In addition, people who work or live in 

treated-wood houses (log cabins) may be exposed 

through the air or by direct contact with the wood. 

Exposure to coal tar products may also occur in the 

natural gas and aluminum smelting industries. You 

can be exposed by any contact with water, soil, air, 

or plant and animal tissues that contain creosotes, 

coal tar, coal tar pitch, or its volatile components. 

Intentional or accidental eating of coal tar creosote 

has resulted in poisoning. If your activities bring 

you into contact with these mixtures, such as at 

hazardous waste sites, in contaminated 

groundwater, in wood products treated with 

creosote, or in contaminated shellfish, you will be 

exposed to coal tar creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, 

or coal tar pitch volatiles.You can also be exposed 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

by drinking water contaminated by a hazardous 

waste site. 

1.4 HOW CAN CREOSOTE ENTER AND 

LEAVE MY BODY? 

Creosotes and coal tar products can enter your body 

through the lungs, stomach, intestines, and skin. No 

information that describes how fast or how much 

creosote or its components might enter the body 

after one or many exposures is available. The 

amount that enters the body depends on how you 

come in contact with it (via air, food, water, skin), 

how much of the mixture is present, and how long 

you are exposed to it. Many of the parts of the coal 

tar creosote mixture (for example, PAHs) are 

rapidly absorbed through the lungs, stomach, and 

intestines. Prolonged exposure through the skin, 

without washing, may increase the amount of the 

creosotes or coal tar products that pass into the 

bloodstream. Individual components of coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, and coal tar pitch 

volatiles may be stored in body fat. In the body, 

some coal tar components may be metabolized. For 

example, pyrene can be metabolized to 1-

hydroxypyrene. Some studies indicate that creosotes 

may cross the placenta into the tissue of the 

developing fetus. Because coal tar products may be 

stored in body fat, they may be found in breast milk. 

Creosotes leave the body primarily in the stool; a 

smaller amount leaves the body in the urine. 

1.5 HOW CAN CREOSOTE AFFECT MY 

HEALTH? 

 

To protect the public from the harmful effects of 

toxic chemicals and to find ways to treat people 

who have been harmed, scientists use many tests. 

Exposure to creosotes, coal tar, coal tar pitch, or 

coal tar pitch volatiles may be harmful to your 

health. Eating food or drinking water contaminated 

with a high level of these compounds may cause a 

burning in the mouth and throat as well as stomach 

pain. Taking herbal remedies containing creosote 

bush leaves may result in damage to the liver or 

kidney. Reports describing poisoning in workers 

exposed to coal tar creosote, or in people who 

accidentally or intentionally ate coal tar creosote 

prove that these chemicals can be harmful. These 

reports indicate that brief exposure to large amounts 

of coal tar creosote may result in a rash or severe 

irritation of the skin, chemical burns of the surfaces 

of the eye, convulsions and mental confusion, 

kidney or liver problems, unconsciousness, or even 

death. Longer exposure to lower levels of coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch or coal tar pitch 

volatiles by direct contact with the skin or by 

exposure to the vapors from these mixtures can also 

result in increased sensitivity to sunlight, damage to 

the cornea, and skin damage such as reddening, 

blistering, or peeling. Longer exposures to the 

vapors of the creosotes, coal tar, coal tar pitch, or 

coal tar pitch volatiles can also cause irritation of 

the respiratory tract. Skin cancer and cancer of the 

scrotum have also resulted from long exposure to 

low levels of these chemical mixtures, especially 

through direct contact with the skin during wood 

treatment or manufacture of coal tar creosote-
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

treated products, or in coke or natural gas factories. 

Prolonged skin exposure to soot and coal tar 

creosote has been associated with cancer of the 

scrotum in chimney sweeps. These levels are much 

higher than the levels that you are likely to be 

exposed to in groundwater, food, air, or soil. 

One way to see if a chemical will hurt people is to 

learn how the chemical is absorbed, used, and 

released by the body; for some chemicals, animal 

testing may be necessary. Animal testing may also 

be used to identify health effects such as cancer or 

birth defects. Without laboratory animals, scientists 

would lose a basic method to get information 

needed to make wise decisions to protect public 

health. Scientists have the responsibility to treat 

research animals with care and compassion. Laws 

today protect the welfare of research animals, and 

scientists must comply with strict animal care 

guidelines. 

Rats and mice fed a large amount of wood creosote 

at one time had convulsions and died. Rats fed a 

smaller amount of wood creosote for a long period 

developed kidney and liver problems, and died. 

Exposure to coal tar products through the skin has 

resulted in skin cancer in animals. Laboratory 

animals that ate food containing coal tar developed 

cancer of the lungs, liver, and stomach, and animals 

exposed to coal tar in the air developed lung and 

skin cancer. 

The International Agency for Research on Cancer 

(IARC) has determined that coal tar is carcinogenic 

to humans and that creosote is probably 

carcinogenic to humans. EPA has also determined 

that coal tar creosote is a probable human 

carcinogen. 

1.6 HOW CAN CREOSOTE AFFECT 

CHILDREN? 

This section discusses potential health effects from 

exposures during the period from conception to 

maturity at 18 years of age in humans. 

Children are generally exposed to very low levels of 

creosote, but intentional or accidental eating of coal 

tar creosote has resulted in poisoning. Children who 

live in hazardous waste areas contaminated with 

creosote may be exposed by drinking contaminated 

water or from contact with soil. The most common 

way that creosote will enter the body when it is 

present in soils is through the skin. However, 

children may also swallow creosote if they eat dirt 

or put their unwashed hands in their mouths after 

touching soil or wood contaminated with creosote. 

In addition, children may be exposed to creosote 

compounds if they eat fish and shellfish from 

contaminated areas. Children may also be exposed 

to creosote if they use products that contain creosote 

to improve a health problem such as dandruff, 

eczema, or psoriasis, or if they are given an herbal 

remedy containing the leaves from the creosote 

bush (chaparral). 

Children may also be exposed to creosote if they 

breathe in vapors from or have direct skin contact 

with freshly treated wood found in fences, bridges, 

railroad ties, or telephone poles. In addition, 

children who live in treated-wood houses (log 

cabins) may be exposed through the air or by direct 

contact with the wood. The use of creosote to 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

protect wooden playground equipment or wooden 

decks for the yard is not recommended, but children 

may be exposed to creosote if it has been applied to 

wood in or around the home in the past. Children 

could also be exposed to creosote on their parent's 

clothing or shoes if these have been contaminated 

with creosote at the workplace. Children are not 

more likely to be exposed to creosote than adults, 

and there is no unique exposure of children to 

creosote. 

Children who played on soil contaminated with 

creosote had more skin rashes than children who 

played in uncontaminated areas. Apart from this, 

the health effects of creosote have not been studied 

in children, but they would likely experience the 

same health effects seen in adults exposed to 

creosote. We do not know whether children differ 

from adults in their susceptibility to health effects 

from creosote. Children could be more susceptible 

to cancer because they might have a longer time in 

which to develop it, but this association has not 

been studied. 

No effects have been reported for children exposed 

to creosote before birth. Experiments in laboratory 

animals have shown birth defects, such as cleft 

palates, in the young of mothers exposed to high 

levels of creosote during pregnancy, but whether 

creosote could induce such defects in humans is not 

known. Some animal studies indicate that creosotes 

may cross the placenta into the tissue of the 

developing fetus. Because chemical components of 

coal tar may be stored in body fat, they may be 

found in breast milk and therefore could be 

transferred to newborns and infants. 

 

1.7 HOW CAN FAMILIES REDUCE THE 

RISK OF EXPOSURE TO CREOSOTE? 

If your doctor finds that you have been exposed to 

significant amounts of creosote, coal tar, coal tar 

pitch, or coal tar pitch volatiles, ask whether your 

children might also be exposed. Your doctor might 

need to ask your state health department to 

investigate. 

Families may reduce the risk of exposure to coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, and coal tar pitch 

volatiles in several ways if they find that they are at 

risk of such exposures. If you live in a residential 

area that used to have a wood preservation facility 

or gas manufacturing plant located nearby, you 

should use precautions to decrease or limit your 

exposure to creosote that may be present in the soil 

or water. This may include wearing long-sleeved 

shirts and long pants when working or playing 

outside and avoiding using water contaminated with 

creosote. If the soil in your yard was contaminated 

by creosote in the past, you should probably not 

grow food in it. You will need to wash your hands 

and any other exposed skin carefully after you are 

in contact with the contaminated soil or water 

outside. This is especially true for children since 

they have a tendency to put their hands in their 

mouths. Some children eat a lot of dirt. It is not 

fully understood how much of the creosote bound to 

dirt may come off the dirt when it is inside your 

body. You should discourage children from eating 

dirt. Make sure they wash their hands frequently 

and before eating. Discourage your children from 

putting their hands in their mouths or from engaging 

in other hand-to-mouth activity. 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

Children may be exposed to creosote during their 

outdoor play activities. You should encourage your 

children not to play in contaminated areas, 

particularly in those that may be abandoned waste 

sites or waste sites undergoing cleanup. Some 

children will ignore signs posted at the sites that 

alert the public to possible dangers and declare the 

areas off limits. Encourage your children to follow 

the instructions on the signs and to play elsewhere. 

Children may come into contact with creosotetreated wood when playing on or near railroad 

tracks, in ditches close to utility poles, in old barns 

or other farm structures, or on bridges or piers. 

Children may also be exposed to creosote through 

ingestion if they chew or place their mouths on 

creosote-treated objects such as fence posts or pier 

railings. You should discourage your children from 

such behavior and from putting foreign objects in 

their mouths. 

Drinking chaparral tea may result in exposure to 

wood creosote by swallowing. If you drink 

chaparral tea you may expose your children. 

Creosote is also found in coal tar shampoos used for 

anti-dandruff therapy, in coal tar ointments used for 

treatment of eczematous dermatitis and in mineral 

coal tar for the treatment of psoriasis. You may 

expose your children to creosote if you use any of 

these products. Ask your doctor to suggest 

alternative treatments that do not involve the use of 

these products. 

It is sometimes possible to carry creosote into the 

home on work clothing or shoes that may have been 

exposed to coal tar creosote, coal tar, or coal tar 

pitch at the workplace. This may be of more 

importance for people who work in the woodpreserving industry or in jobs such as roofing, 

paving, and chimney cleaning than for people who 

work in the coking industry, or in other plants that 

use coal tar-derived products and for which the 

main route of exposure is through breathing in 

contaminated dust. You can contaminate your car, 

home, or other locations outside work where 

children might be exposed to creosote. You should 

know about this possibility if you work with 

creosote. Long-term exposure to low levels of 

creosote through direct contact with skin has 

resulted in skin cancer. For workers in wood 

preservation facilities, the American Wood 

Preservers Institute (AWPI) recommends washing 

work clothes separately from other household 

clothing if oily creosote residues or sawdust from 

creosote-treated wood are present on the clothes. 

Adults with contaminated work clothes should wash 

them before reusing them. If you work in an 

industry in which creosote is used, your 

occupational health and safety officer at work 

should tell you whether this or other chemicals you 

work with are dangerous and likely to be carried 

home on your clothes, body, or tools and whether 

you should be showering and changing clothes 

before you leave work, storing your street clothes in 

a separate area of the workplace, or laundering your 

work clothes at home separately from other clothes. 

Your employer should have Material Safety Data 

Sheets (MSDSs) for many of the chemicals used at 

your place of work, as required by the Occupational 

Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 

Information on these sheets should include chemical 

names and hazardous ingredients, important 

properties (such as fire and explosion data), 

potential health effects, how you get the chemical(s) 

in your body, how to properly handle the materials, 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

and what to do in an emergency. Your employer is 

legally responsible for providing a safe workplace 

and should freely answer your questions about 

hazardous chemicals. Your OSHA-approved state 

occupational safety and health program or OSHA 

can answer any further questions and help your 

employer identify and correct problems with 

hazardous substances. Your OSHA-approved state 

occupational safety and health program or OSHA 

will listen to your formal complaints about 

workplace health hazards and inspect your 

workplace when necessary. Employees have a right 

to optimal safety and health on the job without fear 

of punishment. 

Your children may be exposed to creosote 

compounds by eating certain types of fish and 

shellfish caught from certain locations. Certain 

states, American Indian tribes, and U.S. territories 

have issued freshwater fish advisories to warn 

people about creosote-contaminated fish. Each 

state, American Indian tribe, or U.S. territory sets its 

own criteria for issuing fish advisories. A fish 

advisory will specify which bodies of water have 

restrictions. The advisory will tell you what types 

and sizes of fish are of concern. The advisory may 

completely ban eating fish or tell you to limit your 

meals of a certain fish type. For example, an 

advisory may tell you to eat a certain type of fish no 

more than once a month. The advisory may tell you 

to eat only certain parts of the fish and how to 

prepare or cook the fish to decrease your exposure 

to creosote. The fish advisory may be stricter to 

protect pregnant women, nursing mothers, and 

young children. Chemicals in creosote have been 

found in breast milk and may cross the placenta. To 

reduce your child's exposure to creosote, obey fish 

advisories. Information on fish and wildlife 

advisories in your home state is available from your 

state health or natural resources department. Signs 

might also be posted in certain fishing areas. 

Creosote is a restricted-use pesticide, meaning that 

it is only supposed to be applied by people who are 

trained to use it safely and who have been tested 

and approved to use it. It is not available over-thecounter for use in the home or garden. The AWPI 

does not recommend the use of creosote to protect 

wooden playground equipment or wooden decks for 

the yard. Other pesticides are generally used for 

preserving playground equipment and decks. Your 

children may be exposed to creosote if an 

unqualified person applies it to wood in or around 

your home, such as to sundecks or to wooden 

equipment your children play on. In some cases, the 

improper use of pesticides banned for use in homes 

has turned homes into hazardous waste sites. Make 

sure that any person you hire is licensed and, if 

appropriate (as is the case for creosote), certified to 

apply pesticides. Your state licenses each person 

who is qualified to apply pesticides according to 

EPA standards and further certifies each person 

who is qualified to apply restricted-use pesticides. 

Ask to see the license and certification. Also ask for 

the brand name of the pesticide, an MSDS, the 

name of the product's active ingredient (the 

chemical that makes the pesticide work), and the 

EPA registration number. Ask whether EPA has 

designated the pesticide "for restricted use" and 

what the approved uses are. This information is 

important if you or your family react to the product. 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

If you feel sick after a pesticide has been used in 

your home, consult your doctor or local poison 

control center. 

 

1.8 IS THERE A MEDICAL TEST TO 

DETERMINE WHETHER I HAVE BEEN 

EXPOSED TO CREOSOTE? 

No medical test will determine if you have been 

exposed to wood creosote, coal tar creosote, coal 

tar, coal tar pitch mixtures, or coal tar pitch 

volatiles. However, chemicals contained in creosote 

(such as PAHs or phenol) may be detected and 

measured in body tissues (organs, muscle, or fat), 

urine, or blood after exposure to creosote. 

Typically, this may be done for employees in 

industry who work with coal tar creosote, coal tar, 

and coal tar pitch to monitor their exposure. For 

example, the metabolite 1-hydroxypyrene, which 

can be detected in urine after exposure to pyrene, 

has been used to test for exposure to creosote 

because pyrene is a component of creosote. This 

test would determine only whether you have 

recently been exposed to pyrene, but cannot 

positively identify the source of the pyrene as 

creosote or accurately predict whether you will 

experience any adverse health effects. Moreover, 

analyses of urine samples for 1-hydroxypyrene are 

not normally done in a doctor's office because they 

require special equipment. 

1.9 WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS HAS THE 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MADE TO 

PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH? 

The federal government develops regulations and 

recommendations to protect public health. 

Regulations can be enforced by law. Federal 

agencies that develop regulations for toxic 

substances include the EPA, the OSHA, and the 

Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Recommendations provide valuable guidelines to 

protect public health but cannot be enforced by law. 

Federal organizations that develop 

recommendations for toxic substances include the 

ATSDR and the National Institute for Occupational 

Safety and Health (NIOSH). 

Regulations and recommendations can be expressed 

in not-to-be-exceeded levels in air, water, soil, or 

food that are usually based on levels that affect 

animals; then they are adjusted to help protect 

people. Sometimes these not-to-be-exceeded levels 

differ among federal organizations because of 

different exposure times (an 8-hour workday or a 

24-hour day), the use of different animal studies, or 

other factors. 

Recommendations and regulations are also 

periodically updated as more information becomes 

available. For the most current information, check 

with the federal agency or organization that 

provides it. Some regulations and recommendations 

for creosote include the following: 

On December 10, 1992, FDA issued a nationwide 

warning to consumers (FDA Press Release, P92-38) 

about chaparral, an herbal product derived from the 

leaves of the creosote bush, because of reports of 

acute toxic hepatitis after its use. The press release 

can be found at the FDA Web site, 

http://www.fda.gov. 
 PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

 CREOSOTE CAS#: Wood Creosote 8021-39-4 

 Coal Tar Creosote 8001-58-9 

 Coal Tar 8007-45-2 

Division of Toxicology September 2002 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 

Regulatory standards and guidelines for air and 

water exist for the most important individual PAHs 

and phenols contained in wood creosote, coal tar 

creosote, coal tar, and coal tar pitch. EPA has 

designated coal tar creosote a restricted-use 

pesticide. This means it can only be bought and 

used by certified applicators and only for those uses 

covered by the applicator's certification. In addition, 

coal tar creosote has been identified by EPA as a 

hazardous waste. 

The federal government has developed regulatory 

standards and guidelines to protect workers from 

the potential health effects of other coal tar products 

in air. OSHA has set a Permissible Exposure Limit 

(PEL) of 0.2 milligrams of coal tar pitch volatiles 

per cubic meter of air (0.2 mg/m3) in workroom air 

to protect workers during an 8-hour shift. 

1.10 Where can I get more information? 

If you have any more questions or concerns, 

please contact your community or state health or 

environmental quality department or: 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

Division of Toxicology 

1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32 

Atlanta, GA 30333 

Information line and technical assistance: 

Phone: 888-422-8737 

FAX: (770)-488-4178 

ATSDR can also tell you the location of 

occupational and environmental health clinics. 

These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, 

and treating illnesses resulting from exposure to 

hazardous substances. 

To order toxicological profiles, contact: 

National Technical Information Service 

5285 Port Royal Road 

Springfield, VA 22161 

Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000 

Reference 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

(ATSDR). 2002. Toxicological profile for creosote. 

Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services, Public Health Service.