The phytotoxic effect of wood preservatives so widely used plays a considerable role in the protection of natural environment. A review was made of the existing methods with which to assess the phytotoxicity of the above chemicals and some suggestions were given concerning the methods most appropriate for their unification. Two areas of research are proposed: 1) estimating the direct effect on indicator plants (white mustard - Sinapis alba, being the obligatory plant, and some other plant depending on the purpose the preservative is used for), 2) estimating the effect of wood treated with a tested preservative, on the some plants. The initial results of phytotoxicity presented here were obtained for the WR-3 preservative (quaternary ammonium compound + borate) B (sodium benzoate + borate) and NaPCP when white mustard and Scotch pine seedlings were used as indicator plants.

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