Arsenical creosote wood preservatives

A stable, homogeneous, aqueous solution for application to wood surfaces, said stable, aqueous solution consisting essentially of:

• (A) creosote;
• (B) a preservative component which is selected from the group consisting of
• (i) a normally water-insoluble salt selected from the group consisting of zinc arsenate, zinc arsenite, copper arsenate and copper arsenite and mixtures thereof;
• (ii) an ammonia-soluble salt selected from the group consisting of copper borate, zinc borate, and mixtures thereof, and copper chromate, zinc chromate, and mixtures thereof;
• (iii) an ammonia-dispersible organometallic compound selected from the group consisting of copper naphthenate, zinc naphthenate and mixtures thereof, copper-8-quinolinolate, zinc-8-quinolinolate and mixtures thereof, and tributyltin oxide;
• and, with either (i), (ii) or (iii)
• (iv) sufficient aqueous ammonia, in a concentration of about 1 to about 28% by weight NH.sub.3 to solubilize said salt (i) or to dissolve said salt (ii) or to disperse said compound (iii);
• and
• (C) solvent for said compounds (A) and (B), said solvent being selected from the group consisting of fuel oil, pole treating oil, kerosene, tie-treating oil, waste crank oil, and a petroleum distillate;
• said solvent (C) being present in a sufficient amount, of about 13% to 80% by volume of the total aqueous solution, and said creosote (A) being present in an amount of from 7% to about 70% by volume of the total aqueous solution, thereby to provide said stable, homogeneous aqueous solution;
• said aqueous solution being capable of providing a creosote-treated wood surface which may be painted.