Wood preservation preservation reaching back to ancient Greece during Alexander the Great's rule, where bridge wood was soaked in olive oil. The Romans protected their ship hulls by brushing the wood with tar. During the Industrial Revolution wood preservation became a cornerstone of the wood processing industry. Inventors and scientists such as Bethell, Boucherie, Burnett and Kyan made historic developments in wood preservation, with the preservative solutions and processes. Commercial pressure treatment began in the latter half of the 19th century with the protection of railroad cross-ties using creosote. Treated wood was used primarily for industrial, agricultural, and utility applications, where it
Coal tar to squamous cell carcinoma. The International Agency for Research on Cancer lists coal tars as Group 1 carcinogens, meaning they directly cause cancer. Both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the state of California list coal tars as known human carcinogens. Coal tar causes increased sensitivity to sunlight, so skin treated with topical coal tar preparations should be protected from sunlight. The residue from the distillation of high-temperature coal tar, primarily a complex mixture of three or more membered condensed ring aromatic hydrocarbons, was listed on 28 October 2008 as a substance of very high concern by