I only said that it could be worse!
What type of plastic is it?
Plastic pallets for general merchandise shipping are usually made from reground scrap and trash. Everything is mixed in, and they don't clean it first. A local plastic recycle co. was put out of business by the Fire Marshall due to too many fires. I've seen the process, and no way in hell I would want a product from them. The owner was a lawyer and probably spent more time in court than making product. Some day's our vehicle's were totally covered in plastic dust. I filed three complaints with the EPA and others also did the same. They are out! The Fire Marshall was the the main instrument in getting them shut down. Thumbs up to that guy for sure!
I also work on Elvis from time to time at another recycle Co. Very clean operation and well managed, but they are extremely selective on the materials and do not use trash. They name their systems. Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Elvis. Elvis has two control systems, so he cant really die! Just has a few hiccups from time to time
in either control.
They do come in quite a few different flavors tho. If you see this symbol:
on your pallet, it is made from Polypropylene. A very safe material which is chemically inert. Just wash it off and go. FDA compliant and used in the Food and Drug industries. HDPE and UHMWPE are a couple more good plastics. Fiberglass is also good, but expensive. Polyvinyl Acetate is quite inexpensive. A 4x8 sheet 1/16" thick is only about 18 bucks or so. I think I have about 20 or so sheets that are planned for an aquatic device.
It really depends which industry you get your pallets from. New wooden pallets are pretty cheap. The US has recently banned the practice of chemical treatments of wood pallets, along with a number of other countries. The process used today is heat treatment. Basically heating a wood pallet to sterilize it, kill the bug's... The Guv regulates pallet manufacture/processing for anything in or out of the USA.
A number of independent and professional studies have been done on used wood pallets. Mostly at pallet yards/manufactures/refurbishers. The vast majority were contaminated with all kinds of vile stuff. The vile stuff is hard to get rid of.
You have to realize that FHM are the number one environmental assay species used globally in waters. They probably exist at Chernobyl! Kinda tuff little dudes, and if your pallet has chemicals in it that they can survive, why not a spawn. May not be good for the rest of the species in your pond, but could very well be diluted out of the concentration area. Except your FHM are contaminated, and it goes on up thru the food chain. Probably not a major issue, but stuff happens!
Why do some people get cancer?
Usually exposure to something their system is not capable of fighting off.
Just need to look at it further, is all I am saying.