Protective measures involving chemical treatment of wood use only a narrow range of toxic materials which are divisible into two groups, (i) those that are water-soluble, (ii) those that are soluble only in organic solvents. It is generally true to say that, as far as protection against insects is concerned, the former are stomach poisons while the latter are largely (though not exclusively) contact poisons (i.e., the commonly termed "insecticides"). In both groups, the most frequently used materials are currently under some pressure because of environmental considerations, but economic problems, related to supply of raw materials, also exist. In common with other organisations involved with the preservation of wood products, the N.Z. Forest Research Institute has recently put a lot of emphasis on finding new, or alternative, treating systems and this paper presents the entomological aspects of the work to date.

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