Are Wood Pallets Safe For Decorating?

It is evident online – especially on websites such as Pinterest – that wood pallets have been reinvented into home decor. Such pallets appear as unharmful scraps re-purposed, but Dana Dean reveals otherwise.

Wood pallets are reasonably known as great items for creating home decorative projects. It is recyclable, wooden and versatile. Used both, inside the home and outside (garden). A horticulturalist from The University of Illinois, Candice Miller, studied the hazardous conditions of reusing pallets and found a few things that every user must know before creating their next decorative projects:

• Avoid pallets marked with MB. MB symbolize that pallet was treated with the pesticide, methyl bromide, which potentially can affect the neurological system in humans, negatively. Pallets that are marked with HT or isn’t marked at all are to be used instead. HT symbolizes: heat treated.

• Consider where the pallet is coming from. Some pallets are stored around harmful chemicals and foods.

• Always wash the pallet with hot soapy water or bleach before use.

Craig Martin, the owner of American Wood Inspection Services – the company that inspects pallet facilities for export – says, ” You have no idea where they have been. I’ve seen used pallets that have come out of dog food manufacturing facility that had used chicken parts still on them.

There have not been many methyl bromide exposure cases, but, the dangers should be taken seriously.

To find pallets for decorating, an organization called, Perennial, that teaches people how to turn trash into treasure, recommends, local, independent places such as hardware stores and printing places or pallet manufacturers themselves such as Pasadena Skid & Pallet.