Copper sulphate is used for the preservation of wood since decades. However, if copper sulphate is not combined with a compound it can be leached up to 50% and more from the treated wood. Previous results for leached wood indicated that the loss of biological efficacy against soft rot corresponds to leaching of copper. For basidiomycetes, however, the effectiveness decreases much more rapidly. Therefore it is assumed that also the sulphate ion has a toxic effect against basidiomycetes. Systematic investigations were carried out to evaluate the biological efficacy of the sulphate ion using several copper free sulphates. The results of unleached test blocks show that other metal sulphates investigated have a similar biological efficacy against various types of basidiomycetes as copper sulphate.

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