Sure there is a way to sterilize wood without harming the wood or causing any health threats. It could be sterilized by gamma irradiation,. It would be expensive, but safe — but it would not be the old way, and would terrify the superstitious and scientifically illiterate.
It’s a good thing. First KKKalifornia then Wisconsin. Two Blue states. What a great time to start running ads.
There is a simple way to sterilize wood surfaces without harming the wood or causing any health threats. Make a diluted solution of Sodium Hypochlorite, say 10% to 15% and water, wash the wooden surface for one to two minutes, soaking it in well. Let the wood absorb the solution. The capillary action of the wood will "pipe" the diluted Sodium Hypochlorite solution down where any bacterial colonies may be growing. Rinse with fresh water if you wish, although this is not really necessary. This will kill ANY bacteria and viruses.
Where do you find Sodium Hypochlorite? You can usually find it in your laundry room. It is ordinary bleach. The best to use is the blue cap Clorox™ brand. Why blue cap? Because the blue cap indicates it is pure, with no perfume additives. Your dilute solution needs to be mixed every time you use it because it decomposes very rapidly, within minutes. The more dilute you make it, the faster it decomposes. The Sodium Hypochlorite in the Clorox™ bottle is already diluted, so when I refer to diluting it, we are speaking of diluting it from that solution.i.e. 1 part Clorox™ to 10 parts water.
(IMPORTANT: Be exceeding careful not to get this mixture on clothing or colored cloth as it will bleach it. Avoid getting on your skin as it will dissolve your skin. That's why bleach feels slimy. A one to twenty solution used in your WaterPik™ is an excellent way to clean your teeth and actually will dissolve plaque and kill any oral spirochetes, a cause of many diseases including Alzheimer's.)
The formula for Sodium HypoChlorite is NaCLO and when mixed with water, it rapidly decomposes by dropping off the Oxygen atom which forms O2 then mixes with free Hydrogen in the water to forms H2O2 + NaCl + O2. The H2O2 is unstable and decomposes further to H2O + O2. Some of the free Oxygen forms O3 — Ozone, which is one of the very best of anti-bacterial, anti-viral substances known. But O3 is unstable also. After the full disinfection and the decomposition of all these toxic but dilute chemicals, you are left with NaCl and H2O, Salt Water.