17.10.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
L 269/3
(12)
Wood treated with products containing creosote is used to make utility poles for electricity and telecommunications for various technical reasons (for example, light weight compared to concrete poles and corresponding ease of maintenance, good resilience, high service life expectancy sought for electricity and telecommunication infrastructures which are built to last several decades, sustainable material).
Alternative biocidal products to treat wooden poles are under development and a product containing a mixture of copper hydroxide, DDA Carbonate and penflufen has recently been authorised in several Member States.
Some other biocidal products, based on copper compounds or quaternary ammonium compounds as active substances, have reached the final stage of authorisation procedure.
However, time is needed to test and have a sufficient return on experience of those alternative products.
(13)
Alternatives to wood as a material for utility poles exist, including steel, concrete, fibreglass, composite materials or composite barrier sleeves installed around treated wooden utility poles.
Each of these alternatives presents advantages (for example, rigidity; invariant physical characteristics; fire retardancy) and disadvantages (for example, the need for further testing; possible shorter service life or other technical concerns; more expensive when compared to wooden poles).
Another alternative is the laying of transmission cables underground, in particular in urban and city environments, although this option may become more technically challenging depending on the natural terrain across which the network must traverse (for example, remote areas or mountains), and an installation and maintenance may appear more complex, costly and not feasible in all circumstances.
A nonrenewal of approval of creosote for use in wooden poles might create an economic impact on electricity and telecommunication infrastructure operators, and problems for the maintenance of certain transmission cables (for example, areas not easily accessible, rapid response in case of serious storms) in some Member States where substitution with other materials or underground transmission cables would be technically or economically difficult for the moment.
(14)
The Agency identified risks for human health arising from the use of biocidal products containing creosote for the treatment of railway sleepers and utility poles for the workers responsible for the treatment of wood, for the pole installers and the electricity pole installers, and for the exposure of the general public.
Risk mitigation measures should be implemented to limit the exposure to creosote as far as possible, for example the recourse to mechanical or automated processes to avoid manual handling of treated wood, and the wearing of personal protective equipment by workers, and ensuring that treated wood is not accessible to the general public during storage.
Risks for the environment have also been identified as creosote is PBT/vPvB, and risk mitigation measures should be implemented to limit the exposure of the environment to creosote as far as possible, for example providing that industrial application is to be conducted within a contained area or on impermeable hard standing with bunding; that freshly treated timber is to be stored after treatment under shelter or on impermeable hard standing, or both, to prevent direct losses to soil, sewer or water; and that any losses from the application of the product are to be collected for reuse or disposal.
(15)
On the basis of the information collected, it is concluded that the non-approval of creosote as an active substance for use in biocidal products would have a disproportionate negative impact on society in comparison to the risks arising from the use of the substance for the treatment of wood used to make railway sleepers and utility poles for electricity and telecommunications.
The condition set out in Article 5(2), point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 is thus satisfied for those uses.
(16)
It is therefore appropriate to renew the approval of creosote for use in biocidal products of product-type 8, subject to compliance with certain conditions.
(17)
Creosote is a candidate for substitution in accordance with Article 10(1), points (a), (d) and (e), of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 and therefore the period of renewal should not exceed 7 years, pursuant to Article 10(4) of that Regulation.
(18)
To keep exposure to humans and the environment to a minimum, biocidal products should only be authorised for the treatment by vacuum pressure impregnation of wood in industrial installations to make railway sleepers, or utility poles for electricity or telecommunications.
Pursuant to point 10 of Annex VI to Regulation (EU) No 528/2012, the product assessment should include an evaluation as to whether the conditions of Article 5(2) of that Regulation are satisfied.
It should be provided that products may only be authorised for use in Member States where the condition set out in Article 5(2), point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 is satisfied.