Birch tar
Birch tar or birch pitch is a substance (liquid when heated) derived from the dry distillation of the bark of the birch tree.
Contents
Compounds[edit]
It is compounded of phenols such as guaiacol, cresol, xylenol and creosol.
Uses[edit]
Birch tar was used widely as an adhesive as early as the late Paleolithic or early Mesolithic era. It has also been used as a disinfectant, in leather dressing, and in medicine.[citation needed]
5,000-year-old chewing gum made from birch bark tar, with tooth imprints, has been found in Kierikki in Finland.[1]
Ends of fletching of arrows were fastened with birch-tar and birch-tar-and-rawhide lashings were used to fix the blade of axes in the Mesolithic period.
Russia leather is a water-resistant leather, oiled with birch oil after tanning. This leather was a major export good from 17th and 18th century Russia, as the availability of birch oil limited its geographical production.[2] The oil impregnation also deterred insect attack and gave a distinctive and pleasant aroma that was seen as a mark of quality in leather.
Birch tar is also one of the components of Vishnevsky liniment.[3]
Birch tar oil is an effective repellent of gastropods.[4] The repellent effect lasts about two weeks.[4] The repellent effect of birch tar oil mixed with petroleum jelly applied to a fence lasts up to several months.[4]
Birch tar oil is also used in perfumery as a base note to impart leather, tar, smoky, and wintergreen notes.
References[edit]
- ^ "Student dig unearths ancient gum, 2007.".
- ^ "Production of Russia Leather" (PDF). The Honourable Cordwainers' Company. 1807.
- ^ "Vishnevsky liniment and ichthammol: on the perspectives of application in military medicine and other fields". The BMJ. 12 June 1999. doi:10.1136/bmj.318.7198.1600. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
- ^ a b c Lindqvist I., Lindqvist B., Tiilikkala K., Hagner M., Penttinen O.-P., Pasanen T. & Setälä H. (2010). "Birch tar oil is an effective mollusc repellent: field and laboratory experiments using Arianta arbustorum (Gastropoda: Helicidae) and Arion lusitanicus (Gastropoda: Arionidae)". Agricultural and Food Science 19(1): 1-12. doi:10.2137/145960610791015050.
External links[edit]
This material-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |