Will burning this wood kill me?

July 8, 2018 7:53 PM

Two years ago I had a large laurel tree fall over in my yard. I opted not to have the resultant logs hauled away by the tree guys. The internet seems ambivalent about whether or not burning laurel wood lets off poisonous fumes. The logs have seasoned for two years now and are quite dry. I want to either burn them in the fire pit or give them to someone with a closed wood stove. Thoughts?
posted by kneehigh to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

Best answer: It probably depends on which type of laurel, but I'm pretty sure that all species contain a fair amount of camphor which means its probably a bad I dea to burn in an enclosed room.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 8:01 PM on July 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: IANAE, but I've burned laurel and spent a bit of time around fires with folks who know a lot about trees. My understanding from them is that laurel (and similar, like rhododendron) does have not-great-for-you smoke, but in an open area like a fire pit it isn't concentrated enough to worry about. Similar to how eating a few apple seeds isn't going to give you cyanide poisoning.

I would burn it in the fire pit and not think twice.
posted by matrixclown at 9:55 PM on July 8, 2018

Best answer: People used to make pipes out of laurel, it will not be a significant risk for short term exposure to burn. It's called a poisoned tree because it is one of the few that livestock will get very sick if they eat the foliage, not because it's poisonous when burned.
posted by zenon at 8:02 AM on July 9, 2018