There are some good points in your post, but the fear may be overblown, and there are not a lot of (OK, there none) references to back up your claims.

I have concerns about the following items:

"Dyed mulch is made of pallets and trash wood." How do you know that? How do you know it's not sawmill scrap just like a lot of other bagged wood mulch and it just happens to be dyed? I don't happen to believe in dyed mulches but I have seen no evidence that they're made from contaminated pallets.

So I can get it from within 50 miles, but not if it's 'commercially distributed'. Are you suggesting we all buy chippers and make our own from local forests? Perhaps there is some other way to convey this point.

I certainly agree that efforts should be made to avoid spreading disease and pests. A pile of bulk mulch or a bag at the hardware store may be from local sources or very far away. Perhaps "Know the source and use common sense" would be better than these blanket statements.

Oh, and we've had several lengthy discussions about pallets here before. It was generally agreed that since pallets are often single-use, there is not much incentive to treat them with creosote or CCA. CCA hasn't been used in the US for awhile anyway, and certainly not on pallets. I've looked at a LOT of pallets and although they can be stained occasionally with whatever they carried previously, I've never seen treated ones. Imported ones are generally treated with steam or fumigant gas to kill pests.

Maybe that line should have been just "trash wood" since pallets are in the same category. The discussion about pallets is moot.

Many towns are separating wood from the refuse and recycling it. There is no traceability. A lot of it is chipped and used as mulch. One of the biggest problems is when people tear out old decks, many of which have creosote. Old house wood can have lead paint.

Even if a vendor indicates the source of the wood, how many people actually check to see if it is mentioned in the documentation when they purchase it?

None of this discussion preempts termites, and the other insects infesting the chips.

Some of the dyed wood mulches I have seen have bits of OSB, plywood, and other wood scraps from unidentifiable sources and that may include discarded CCA pressure treated wood. While recycling is a very good thing to do these materials probably are not good choices, not any better then shredded tires.

Here is a link that might be useful: About dyed wood mulches

OK, the question of treated scrap or waste wood being shredded up into mulch is a good one. I don't know for sure what regulations might cover the use of treated waste wood in mulch. Our city does its best to separate junk that is dumped at the yard waste dropoff sites so it doesn't go into the shredder. I'm sure it's not perfect. It would not surprise me if some municipal operations or private mulch businesses were not as careful, particularly if regulations don't require it. It may vary by state. I'm going to look into it.

Termites? In wood chips? Probably not. They are more likely to go after carboard then wood chips.

"Termites? In wood chips? Probably not. They are more likely to go after carboard then wood chips."

And when there is no "carboard"?
Besides, Who gets cardboard with their wood chips?

Tox, there are no regulations (or at least none I have found) covering using waste wood for mulches. While we are told that treated wood, or wood containing lead paint are not acceptable, in reality no one checks.
The quite moist environment created by wood chip mulches, or any other material, is a good habitat for many insects including termites, although most termites prefer eating dry wood.

I have a place in the country that's basically all wooded. I've picked up partly rotted sticks off the ground and found termites eating them from the bottom. Why would termites NOT eat wood? That's what they're here for. Nature did not provide cardboard for the last 100 million years.

I still use shredded wood mulch though. :-]

I hope you are practicing safe-mulching and employing the proper protection.

Keep any mulch it at least 12" from the foundation of your house and NEVER mound it up against the base of any plants. I cringe when I see those mulch volcanoes with trees in the center.

I just read that you should not even get the foundation of your house wet from sprinklers. Dry ground and concrete is best.

Termites, from Latin Termes meaning wood worm, eat the cellulose that makes up wood. They tunnel into wood and work on the dry parts, mostly, although there are species that m\ay well eat wet wood. Most termites need protection from the dry air so they build the mud tunnels that get them from in the moist ground to where the food is.

Here is a link that might be useful: About termites

Pests such as the Emerald Ash Borer get around the country by budding Einsteins taking their own firewood with them camping, hauling it all the way across the country, instead of getting it locally.

Ash borer now in Colorado, where we have puh-lenty of firewood from the bark beetles.

Yes termites eat wood. And yes, wood chips are wood. But that doesn't mean that wood chips are high on the list of appetizing food for termites. They much prefer drier more contiguous pieces of wood to the tiny wet pieces of mulch that are being decomposed and made less nutritious. Condensed paper like cardboard is very nutritious and a lot of people use it as a sheet mulch which is why I mentioned it. Boy those termites can make quick work of cardboard.

The reason why people suggest no mulch near houses is because the moist environment created by the mulch is beneficial for termites not because the wood chips attracts them.

Back to the topic of contaminants from waste wood: In my state (MO) most if not all of the mulching and composting operations are exempted from obtaining a permit for processing/disposing of solid waste since they are turning waste into a product. Technically they should get an official Permit Exemption letter from the state, but only some of them do. The exemption states that they are not supposed to use treated, painted etc. wood. However, since they are exempt from permitting, there is no inspection process as there is with permitted facilities. Some of the larger composting operations, especially those composting food scrap, are required to get permits so the state can help control odor issues, etc. That gives the inspectors an opportunity to at least see the operation.

The person I talked to also said they know of no federal regulations on mulch.

Your state may vary, but there is certainly a possibility that all kinds of stuff *could* be used to make mulch and it would be hard to detect by looking.

As always, buyer beware.

This post was edited by toxcrusadr on Wed, Sep 17, 14 at 14:52