There does not exist any special legislation for preservatives but general laws may intervene at three levels:-Manufacture -Transport -Selling. In every case, it is based on a poisonous substances classification, an official classification provided by a para-governmental organisation which includes toxicologists. This legislation may refer to other texts: categories of danger for transport (the European legislation is official in France since 1976), classification of professional diseases, classification of activities under regulation, cards from the Institut National de Securite (Safety National Institute) rules from the Securite Sociale (Social Security), laws on dangerous premises, working laws, etc. Practically all these texts result in: - either distinguishing marks on packagings (diversely coloured labels with symbolical drawings, etc); - either respecting some manufacturing precautions; - either, when settling a new plant, some obligations concerning minimal distances from, houses, the nature and shape of the containers, etc. It is necessary to get the agreement of the town authorities on the choice of the treatment site. In the case we are considering, there is no need for official authorisation relative to manufacture, transport or selling. Indeed, the French legislation is quite precise: -either the manufactured products are intended for human consumption directly (pharmacological and agricultural products) or indirectly (fertilizers used for agriculture or food packaging). Then, they must: get a sale authorisation, appear on an official list with their formulation, and in some cases (pharmacology) manufacture and sale site must be authorised too, -either, the manufactured products are not meant for human consumption, even if they can be put in contact with the skin (dies for cloth, beauty preparation, varnishes or paints, etc). It is never necessary to obtain permission to sell provided that packaging laws are respected. It is the same for wood preservatives. In order to simplify the situation, we shall consider successively the three possible fields from the regulation point of view, the three fields mentioned above. In the same way, we shall only consider the three common types of preservatives. -Derivatives from coal distillation (creosotes) -Organic solvent products -Water-borne salts

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