Asked on Feb 10, 2015

Is this pallet safe to use?

Lulu Dubin
by Lulu Dubin
I found a pallet on the street and I'd like to use it for a project, but I've heard that pallets are often treated with chemicals that make them dangerous to work with. I've taken a picture of a stamp that appears on the pallets. Can anyone tell me what this stamp means and if this pallet is safe to work with? Thanks!
This is the stamp on the pallet - EPAL
  6 answers
  • Pat Nolan Pat Nolan on Feb 11, 2015
    I was on Pinterest this morning and saw a pin on pallet safety. Your pallet is from Europe and they don't used chemicals to treat their pallets marked "Epal." They use heat. Pallets from the U.S that are treated with methyl bromide are marked "MB." The pin also mentioned not to use colored pallets because they're used for chemicals. So, you're safe with THIS pallet. The info comes from Diyready.com
    • See 1 previous
    • Kathy Bertrand Kathy Bertrand on Oct 28, 2015
      @Pat Nolan i'm not so sure about your comment about painted pallets. I drive truck for a living and deliver food products of CHEP pallets that are painted blue
  • Dee Dee on Mar 15, 2015
    Also, pallets stamped HT are safe as they are heat-treated, rather than chemically treated.
  • Pallet4.me Pallet4.me on Oct 05, 2015
    I do agree with Pat Nolan on this, EPAL are for Europe pallets, and you can find a mark EUR as well. But I would not recommend to use it because those kind of pallets are often used much more than some disposable ones. EPAL are much heavier, sometimes full of moister and oil and stuff since they do travel much more from warehouse to warehouse. For some outdoor project, OK, use them but I would definitely not recommend to use them indoors.
  • Monica Moure Monica Moure on Oct 13, 2015
    Our bed frame is made from EPAL palettes and no problem there ;) I am fro Portugal. You just need to treat the palettes properly. We sanded them and applied the correct product to isolate the wood against fungus and a colorless finshing. More than one year after still we have that beautiful wood-like smell in our room!!
  • 1001Pallets 1001Pallets on May 18, 2016
    I tried to gather all the information you need concerning Pallet safety here : http://www.1001pallets.com/pallet-safety/