Wood preservative chemicals may be lost from treated timber by leaching into water or soil. The degree to which this might occur and its effect on the environment is difficult to assess quantitatively due to the absence of appropriate test methods. This paper describes work to assess test methodology capable of allowing the rates of loss of wood preservative from treated timber to be quantified. The possibility of adapting simple laboratory equipment to monitor preservative losses from treated wood has been investigated. Losses due to leaching from selected faces of treated wood blocks when immersed in water have been monitored, using disodium octaborate as a model water-soluble preservative. The investigation has demonstrated the importance of distinguishing between transverse, radial and tangential surfaces when considering potential losses and the subsequent likely environmental impact of treated timber in service.

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