Australian trials on the efficacy of micronized copper

IRG/WP 08-30480

L J Cookson, J W Creffield, K J McCarthy, D K Scown

Alkaline copper quat (ACQ) is an established wood preservative that is formulated with solubilised copper in amine solvent. This paper describes three separate trials in Australia that investigated whether substituting soluble copper with micronized copper affects performance. ACQ and micronized copper quat (MCQ) gave similar performance in Pinus radiata against four brown-rotting fungi in a soil-block bioassay, while MCQ gave slightly better performance against two white-rotting fungi in Eucalyptus delegatensis. An in-ground stake trial in the wet tropics at Innisfail also found that ACQ and MCQ performed comparably in P. radiata and Corymbia maculata. This was a severe test site with attack caused by soft-rotting fungi, white-rotting fungi and termites. At the site, hardwood stakes treated with half retention of hazard level 4 (H4) CCA were heavily attacked after 1.4 years. An H3 (outside, above-ground) field test against termites in Darwin showed that ACQ- or MCQ-treated P. radiata and C. maculata performed comparably against Coptotermes acinaciformis and Mastotermes darwiniensis. These extensive trials demonstrated that MCQ gives performance comparable to ACQ.


Keywords: ACQ, CCA, MCQ, micronized, copper, termites, white rot, brown rot, soft rot

Conference: 08-11-30/12-02 Flamingo Beach, Costa Rica


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