General information

Coal tar is a viscous material composed of complex, high-molecular-weight, compounds derived from e.g. the destructive distillation of wood or coal (23). Bitumen is a generic term applied to natural inflammable substances of variable colour, hardness, and volatility, composed principally of a mixture of hydrocarbons substantially free from oxygenated bodies (24). Bitumen is manufactured from the distillation of crude oil during petroleum refining: ‘Petroleum bitumen is known by different names throughout the world. For example the term ‘bitumen’ is typically used in Europe and is synonymous with the term ‘asphalt’, or ‘asphalt binder’ used in North America. Outside North America, the term ‘asphalt’ is used to describe mixtures of bitumen with mineral materials. […] Coal derived products such as coal tar or coal-tar pitches are very different from bitumen. These are manufactured by the high-temperature pyrolysis (> 800 °C) of bituminous coals and differ from bitumen substantially in composition, physical characteristics, and potential health risks.’ (25)

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07