Wood is one of the most widely used building materials as it is easy to find and process. As an organic material, time leads to a degradation of its substance, and even more so when it is exposed to pathogens such as fungi, bacteria and insects. In order to try and inhibit this phenomenon, several preservation treatments have been developed and applied thanks to the production of chemical biocides. The aim of this study is to investigate the ability or capacity of 45 ((44) strains of Basidiomycetes and 1 Ascomycete) wood-decay fungi to degrade eight* samples taken from the timber treatment tanks at four sawmills, and the ease with which they degrade woods treated with these 8 products. Wood degradation is to be studied through weight loss, to reveal fungus activity. At the same time as these studies, the impacts of pollutants**on the fungi and of the toxicity of the degraded products is to be assessed using physical-chemical methods. The results obtained showed that the experiment was adapted to the chosen fungus species. Product P3 seemed to be the most biodegradable by the fungi, especially by Pycnoporus sanguineus (74%), Ganoderma boninense (40%) Trametes versicolor (37%) and Coriolopsis polyzona (34%). Then came product P6 biodegraded by the fungi. The species Trametes versicolor (36%) and Coriolopsis polyzona (32%) degraded the product most. The physical-chemical show a real fungal action for Trametes versicolor (around 10% of biocide reduction). The strains Ganoderma boninense and Coriolopsis polyzona were also effective, though much less so (around 5%).Their action on the pollutants seemed to be more staggered in time. Here too, it will be necessary to extend their contact time. The Pynoporus sanguineus strains were much less effective. These results show that it will be possible to develop a novel method for decontaminating soils at treated timber storage sites and waste sludges accumulating at the bottom of timber treatment tanks using saprophytic microorganisms, particularly wood-decay fungi.

Download document (715 kb)
free for the members of IRG. Available if purchased.

Purchase this document