# Anyone know why new telephone poles are Green? And don't say because they are ripe! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994 "2008-04-04T22:26:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/1 "2008-04-04T22:26:09Z")
Ok the title pretty much explains it. When I was a kid new telephone poles had creosote impregnated in them to make them last, I remember when I was a kid on hot summer days bursting the bubbles of creosote on the sides of the poles was fun. Now they are all green, I assume it’s a pressure treating/chemical treating that is applied to it. I’d just like to know what it is and if it’s poisonous or otherwise harmful to the environment. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/2 "2008-04-04T22:34:50Z")
Chromated copper arsenate (CCA): [Wood preservation - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_treatment#Chromated_copper_arsenate_.28CCA.29) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/3 "2008-04-04T22:35:51Z")
Telephone poles may still be treated with CCA, which is a copper-arsenic cocktail, mostly because it is less expensive and more powerful than the non-arsenic treatments used now for home and garden applications. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/4 "2008-04-04T22:59:27Z")
Very interesting. We had some pilings replaced on our dock and when they came with the pile driver and all they had large 10-inch piles. They were green. I have heard that the chemicals in side stop spong and other sea life from growing on the sides of those piles. I went down a did a little research - walked to a dock I know used them and had then installed at least 5 years ago. There were 0range spong on the side, and crabs and periwinckles etc…etc… I wouldn’t think that grows on something chemically unsafe…Now I know the name. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/5 "2008-04-04T23:10:14Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] I wouldn’t think that grows on something chemically unsafe… [/QUOTE] Bad assumption to make if you’re starving in the wilderness! Everything is food for something, even stuff that will kill you or make your babies be born with no limbs. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/6 "2008-04-04T23:16:54Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Bad assumption to make if you’re starving in the wilderness! Everything is food for something, even stuff that will kill you or make your babies be born with no limbs. 😉 [/QUOTE] true 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/7 "2008-04-04T23:47:06Z")
Sponges are pretty tough, and crabs and snails do not either attach to the piling or burrow into it. The treatment is to prevent barnacles from attaching to or shipworms from chewing into the dock. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/8 "2008-04-05T00:07:18Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Ok the title pretty much explains it. When I was a kid new telephone poles had creosote impregnated in them to make them last, I remember when I was a kid on hot summer days bursting the bubbles of creosote on the sides of the poles was fun. Now they are all green, I assume it’s a pressure treating/chemical treating that is applied to it. I’d just like to know what it is and if it’s poisonous or otherwise harmful to the environment. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t they be green because they’re _not_ ripe? Just wonderin. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/9 "2008-04-05T00:10:24Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] Wouldn’t they be green because they’re _not_ ripe? Just wonderin. 😃 [/QUOTE] GAH! [sup]yes[/sup] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/10 "2008-04-05T00:45:42Z")
As beowulff indicated, it is probably CCA treated poles. Coal tar creosote used to be used, but that had safety & environmental problems. On hot days, the creosote would tend to ooze out of the poles, and then kids (like Phlosphr) would play around and get exposed to it. Also, it would eventually drain into the ground, and could possibly contaminate water supplies. The green color is typical of CCA. That is pressure-treated into the wood, so it doesn’t ooze out on hot days like creosote did. Now CCA contains arsenic, which is a poison in concentrated doses. So CCA treated lumber is being replaced by newer preservatives, in lumber for decks, patios, and similar construction that people use. But utility poles are isolated and not used as living space by people, so the risk from CCA is minimized. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/11 "2008-04-05T01:19:05Z")
I believe the creosote in phone poles also makes disposal of used ones somewhat tricky, too. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/12 "2008-04-05T16:01:55Z")
[QUOTE=lizardling] I believe the creosote in phone poles also makes disposal of used ones somewhat tricky, too. [/QUOTE] We’re still trying to [clean up](http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/npl/nplms/picaynms.htm) the old creosote treatment facilities. I figure **Phlosphr** already knew that, though. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/13 "2008-04-05T19:38:29Z")
They don’t rot! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/14 "2008-04-05T20:04:26Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] They don’t rot! [/QUOTE] Probably weight concerns, you’d need much more weight below the ground to weigh them down so they don’t fall over, and you also have to make sure the ground can support the weight of a rather tall concrete pillar. Plus, you know, telephone poles are made from trees, which are plentifully available and easily replenished, concrete poles would involve more work to make. ---
**Author:** ![ulpilotrmh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f14d63/32.png) [@ulpilotrmh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ulpilotrmh)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-know-why-new-telephone-poles-are-green-and-dont-say-because-they-are-ripe/443994/15 "2008-04-05T20:06:10Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] They don’t rot! [/QUOTE] Reenforced concrete poles are in use here in Florida, as well as galvanized steel ones. They don’t rot and might be hurricane resistant as well.