Toxic-treated bamboo stakes? Yay or nay?

So I have been saving 3 foot bamboo stake cut offs that are produced as waste at a shipping nursery (non organic). The stakes are dried and undyed. I want to bury or compost them but are they sprayed with biocides? They're grown in China and I can't find any info on it. Will they be harmful to soil, plants or people if composted? There's way to many for just staking stuff.

Hi Huxley,

Not sure if there is an easy way to know for sure.  Think it is assumed that untreated bamboo won’t last very long if exposed to the weather - a couple of years - without being treated.

Depending on the purpose of the bamboo, if intended to last more than a couple of years, I would probably assume it is treated and act as if it were. Who knows that it was treated with in the country of origin - maybe borax/boric acid, maybe something else?

To be more specific, the canes I get are not sprayed at the nursery. Good point at intended lifespan. I believe they are untreated. The big "if" is what was sprayed on it when it was growing. Would 'it' accumulate in the tissue and contaminate my soil?

My experience with these stakes is that they degrade seriously in one growing season of use. Lots of visible mold/fungus and loss of structural integrity. Based on that of guess no biocides are applied

Standards for things made in PRC are pretty Wild West, so we never really know. There is a lot of heavily contaminated soil over there, which is really a shame. When in doubt, use the precautionary principle. And keep in mind that dilution is an important part of the mix.

I can't think of a reason to treat dried bamboo. Fungicide for shipping? Maybe, but I suspect bamboo isn't a high-value product at the source.

I like s lowe's idea: submit it to conditions where it should break down quickly, get covered in natural decomposers, and watch what happens.