On 10/01/2014 10:16, Martin Brown wrote:
On 10/01/2014 08:42, 'Mike' wrote:
The auditorium in the Theatre .....
http://www.myalbum.co.uk/Album=KOB47VPH .... is being sanded back to
bare wood and treated. The wood has had all sorts of polishes and
varnishes over the years, some of which would no doubt be poisonous. If
the dust is spread and mixed in with new material going onto the compost
heap, would the action of composting 'kill' the poisons?

Not necessarily or really worth taking the chance especially if old
pigmented paints are involved as they are likely to include lead and
other heavy metal based pigments and they do not go away ever.

Most plants won't mind a bit of extra heavy metals, but they are not so
good for you to eat if you use it on your veg plot.

(All the improvements you see in the slide show have been done by
volunteers, or bought with funds raised by volunteers.)


If it is just varnish then I'd be inclined to burn it to wood ash.
Otherwise dispose of it as potentially hazardous waste.

Either way the volunteers doing the sanding should have suitable PPE.


Do your research, or consult a pro firm, before letting volunteers loose
on this type of project. E.g. old varnishes invariably have a low
melting point, and will gum up abrasives instantly. If wood is
demountable (panels, t&g etc), send it away to be chemically stripped in
a tank. Getting 99% off is the easy bit :-)