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Wood preservation in Japan
1982 - IRG/WP 3218
The report indicates the importance of wood preservation in Japan, which is the world's largest importer. The main hazards of timber are listed, fungi, insects and marine borers. Besides wood preservation fire protection treatments are also important in Japan. Classifications are given of the durability and treatability of the timbers used. In describing the wood preservation industry, th...
S Amemiya, R Cockcroft

A case study on quality control on telephone poles as a cost saving tool in Tanzania
1987 - IRG/WP 3418
A sample of 28 CCA treated Eucalyptus poles from a lot of 2,000 poles awaiting delivery to the field, was studied to reveal the quality of treatment. Results showed a product of very poor quality. Average figures for penetration and retention were 8.4 mm and 2.2 kg/m³; these results are 66% and 91% below the required standards, respectively. Consequences of such results are estimated to amount to...
K K Murira

Radical changes in the requirements for more safe pressure impregnation in the Nordic countries in 1988
1990 - IRG/WP 3581
After introduction of quality control schemes and standards in the Nordic countries during the seventies, the first radical change of the standards and practice of work took place after pressure from the labor unions and authorities in 1988 and 1989 in Denmark and in Sweden. A new class of preservation with less retention for out of ground contact use was introduced, fixation times were prolonged ...
B Moldrup

Developing the technical guidance document on data requirements for biocidal products
1998 - IRG/WP 98-50101-02
Finland has been developing a discussion document for EC and the Member States concerning the specified data requirements for 23 biocidal product types, including wood preservatives, and their active substances. This data is required when applying for authorisation for a wood preservative according to the forthcoming Biocides Directive. The data requirements comprise of the core data set, which is...
P Karvinen, E Nikunen

Rates of emission from CCA-treated wood in the marine environment: measurement, modelling and requirements for further research
2001 - IRG/WP 01-50166-12
Accurate estimates of rates of emission of leachate from preservative treated wood are crucial for realistic predictions of the environmental impact of its use in maritime construction. Estimates are available for some commonly used preservatives, but these vary widely. Though variable, these measurements suggest that emission generally decreases exponentially with time. Part of the variation is d...
S M Cragg, C J Brown, R A Albuquerque, R A Eaton

Wood preservation in France. "Bois plus" chain of quality. Description of the scheme early 1989
1989 - IRG/WP 3519
1989 - description of the French "CTB-BOIS PLUS" homologation scheme
G Ozanne

European standardization for wood preservation
1989 - IRG/WP 2335
G Castan

Wood Preservation in France. A statement of quality control early 1986
1986 - IRG/WP 3389
A statement of quality control in France early 1986 - Summary of new - Standards criteria for preservatives and treated wood - Aptitude of treated wood for use per class of biological hazard...
M Romeis, G Ozanne

A simple leaching procedure for in-plant monitoring of CCA fixation
1993 - IRG/WP 93-30023
A simple leaching test is described to quantitatively estimate the extent of fixation of chromated copper arsenate (CCA) preservative treated wood products. It is based on the reaction between diphenylcarbazide and unreacted hexavalent chromium leached from borings taken from treated wood during the fixation process. The test requires about 20 minutes to complete and can be set up in a treating pl...
P A Cooper, Y T Ung

Treatment of dried sawn spruce and redwood building timbers with water-borne preservatives under a scheme for the quality control of the preservation and preserved wood in the Netherlands
1978 - IRG/WP 3123
Treatment of dried sawn spruce and redwood Building Timbers with water-borne preservatives under a scheme for the quality control of the preservation and preserved wood in the Netherlands. The aim of this article is to give the reader a modest description of the evaluation of fundamental research in wood preservation into a practical application....
H F M Nijman, N Burgers

Requirements for hosting the Secretariat of IRG
1995 - IRG/WP 95-60057
IRG Secretariat

Measurement of VOC emissions from curative treated wood: A new emission test chamber
2001 - IRG/WP 01-50166-13
A poor indoor air quality (IAQ) is now recognized as a potential factor affecting occupants health. There are three basic strategies to improve IAQ: source control, improvement of the ventilation and use of air cleaners. Usually, the most efficient way to improve IAQ is to eliminate the different pollutant sources or to reduce their emissions. In order to precisely measure emissions from building ...
F Maupetit, O Ramalho, C Yrieix

How to determine what is a realistic emission from treated wood - basic reflections
1998 - IRG/WP 98-50105
Emissions from treated wood occur by evaporation and by leaching. Up to date by far more experience exists on leaching tests than on evaporation test. The methods applied will be of interest to give answers to the questions about the quantity of possible emissions. Standardisation on leaching started very early. One of the first attempts to quantify the effect of leaching on the remaining efficacy...
H Willeitner, R-D Peek

Monographic information on Paxillus panuoides (Fr. ex Fr.) Fr. (First draft)
1978 - IRG/WP 184
A Käärik

Evaluation and approval of wood preservatives. Unification of European requirements
1988 - IRG/WP 2310
This paper reviews the current activities within the European Homologation Committee for Wood Preservatives (EHC) towards unification of the requirements on evaluation and approval of wood preservatives in Western European countries....
J Jermer

Risk assessment and the approval of wood preservatives in the United Kingdom
1995 - IRG/WP 95-50040-23
An approval system operates in the United Kingdom (UK) for the regulation of wood preservatives. The regulatory authority uses a risk assessment approach to evaluate how far the potential for harm to people and the environment from wood preservatives is likely to be realised in practise, and hence the controls required for products to be, used safely. The evaluation for approval purposes also take...
R M Turner

Quality control of microwave treatment of timber after dry rot attack
2001 - IRG/WP 01-40205
In Denmark microwave treatment of timber has been used during the last 15 years for eradication of dry rot (Serpula lacrymans). About 1500 microwave treatments have been employed in coorporation with Hussvamp Laboratoriet. Previously all the infected timber was removed plus an extra metre as a safety zone. This meant that all casting boards and plaster had to be removed as well and joists replaced...
J Bech-Andersen, J Andreasson, S A Elborne

Exterior wood stains
1980 - IRG/WP 3135
Experience has shown that conventional paints cannot now be relied upon to provide a complete seal against water entry, that in practice water can often circumvent the film and that the paint, far from serving to keep water out will seal it in. Moreover present-day paints are often subject to localised and premature failure out of doors and consequently entail high maintenance costs. Problems of w...
E R Miller

The Biocidal Products Directive ( 98/8/EC ) - its consequences for the wood preservation industry
2001 - IRG/WP 01-50166-04
1. The Current Position This European Union Directive is one of the most technically complex pieces of legislation that has been developed by the European Commission (EC). Although the Directive was to have been implemented in the legislation of individual Member States of the EU by May 2000 progress has been slow. A number of Member States have yet to declare the Competent Authority who will handle their legislation. The body text of the Directive cannot stand-alone and is dependent on ancillary regulations and the development of technical guidance for both the Competent Authorities in the Member States and also industry to understand their roles in the whole process for the regulation of biocides and the biocidal products containing them. The process is far from complete in terms of a piece of workable legislation and this leaves not only industry but also the Competent Authorities with significant areas of uncertainty. This is potentially economically and socially damaging to the marketing and use of biocides and biocidal products. Because of this evolutionary process this paper can only be written in general terms as by the time the symposium takes place some significant changes to the position at the time of writing may have occurred. 2. Background The Biocidal Products Directive (98/8/EC), (BPD), is a directive which requires that biocides ( as active substances) are approved for use within the EU and the individual biocidal products containing these active substances are approved for use by the Competent Authority(s) of the Member State(s) in which it is intended to market the product. The product authorisation obtained in the first Member State should be mutually recognised by the other Member States in which application for authorisation to place the product on the market is sought. The Directive has to be seen in the context various other Directives, notably the Plant Protection Directive 91/414/EC). Biocidal products are grouped in the directive into twenty three "product types" and wood preservatives are Product Type 8. The intention of the directive is to harmonise the requirements for the placing of biocidal products and active ingredients on the market throughout the EU. EU wide use of so-called Common Principles are intended to be used to assess the dossiers in order to achieve a common approach and eliminate the current situation where individual Member States apply their own particular national approaches and criteria in the assessment and regulation of products . Annex IIA of the directive identifies the data requirements for the active substance and Annex II B for the biocidal product. There are additional data requirements identified in Annexes IIIA and IIIB for each product type reflecting potential for exposure to man and the environment. 3. Entry onto Annex I Any new active substance will require approval before it or any biocidal products including it can be placed on the market. The dossier to be submitted to the EC will have to include additional data and risk assessments for the product types (as defined in the BPD) in which it will be intended to be used. For those active substances that are accepted as being existing substances on the market before May 2000 (say in wood preservatives) these will be ranked and prioritised. This process is being defined in the so-called: Review Regulations. 4. An environmental directive There is no doubt that this Directive has a high environmental content in terms of the data and the associated risk assessments which are to be prepared. The protocols and the end points for some of these data requirements are still being developed. In general the EC considers that modelling exposure using human and environmental exposure scenarios covering the end use of the product is an acceptable approach . Data are required to enable these scenarios to be modelled and risk assessments made. It is necessary that regulators do not make decisions based on hazard assessment alone in the absence of fully worked out and agreed emission scenarios to define exposure levels which generate a realistic worst case risk assessment. Risk is a function of both hazard and exposure. A lot of work has been done in the development of Technical Notes for Guidance intended to help the regulator and the applicant in the submission and the interpretation of the data. Whilst it may be the case that the human toxicity data requirements still leave questions to be answered it is in the environmental aspects part of the regulatory process where there is still much work to be done. The Directive would seem to rely heavily on the development of Pass / Fail criteria in simulation tests. This is a big subject and of key importance to the risk assessment. 5. Wood preservatives ---- a test case Wood preservation has achieved a certain reputation. On the one hand it is said that a prime reason for the development of the Biocidal Products Directive arose from European problems in the regulation of the marketing and use of dangerous substances, notably wood preservatives. On the other hand because wood preservatives have been regulated by a number of Member States for many years it is believed they are well understood. The EC and the Member States also wanted to be seen to have achieved early success in the implementation of the Directive therefore the decision was taken to start, following failings with the speed of progress of the Plant Protection Products Directive, with a product type they knew all about i.e. wood preservatives. There is no doubt that there is a much greater understanding on the exposure scenarios, both human and environmental, for wood preservatives than many other product types. However, would it not have been better to have tackled some of the other product types where such an understanding is much less well developed? It is regrettable that the EC and Member States did not feel able to accept the results of an EC sponsored study (Haskoning report) on the assessment of risks for all the product types covered under the BPD. The results of this study clearly showed that wood preservatives did not constitute the most significant risk to man or the environment and in fact the risk was significantly greater for other product types. 6. Wood preservatives and the OECD Biocides Programme Another speaker will be covering this subject in more detail. Suffice it to say that because of the perception there was good knowledge about wood preservatives again they were selected as the pilot for an OECD project looking at environmental and human exposure assessment under the OECD Biocides Programme. The findings from two OECD Workshops actually demonstrated there was still much to be learnt about wood preservatives in order to refine the risk assessments to a state where they would be sufficient for the requirements of the BPD. This work is ongoing but it clearly demonstrates the problems that both the regulator and industry will have in the preparation and the assessment of the dossiers for both the active substances and the biocidal products. This is especially the case for other biocidal products that have not been subject to the same kind of regulation that wood preservatives have subjected to in the past. 7. Inorganic and organic biocides With current wood preservation technology there is still a dependence on inorganic chemicals such as copper (in conjunction with other biocides) or with chromium, as well as arsenic and boron for many end use applications. This is very much the case where a long term service life is a key factor in the use of treated wood for that end use. These substances are commodity chemicals and are also covered under the Existing Substances Regulations (EC) 1488/94. There is also work going on revising the Technical Notes for Guidance covering them . This includes a significant addition in the environmental risk assessment area. Efforts are being made to integrate and coordinate the requirements for both the BPD and the Existing Substances Regulations and OSPAR ( OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic). OSPAR refers to the Oslo Paris Convention. Whilst the BPD seems primarily aimed at the regulation of biocides based on organic chemicals wood preservative products may contain both inorganic and organic components. Indeed there are probably few wood preservative formulations on the market that contain only one active substance. This must have a significant impact on the way the dossiers are prepared for the active substance and the biocidal products and how they are assessed both at the EC and the Member State level. 8. Consequences of the BPD for the wood preservation industry Whilst this paper addresses the consequences for the wood preservation industry per se, it must not be overlooked that there may be implications for the fabricaÈors of articles made from treated timber. Some current wood preservative formulations may over a period of time be withdrawn from the market because the risks and costs of generating the data and the preparation of the dossier make the product economically unviable. The presence of large working volumes of wood preservative solutions at treatment plants requires realistic withdrawal periods to avoid the unnecessary disposal and associated environmental risk of products that have been used satisfactorily for many years. 9. Availability of active substances The structure of the industry has changed dramatically in the past few months and there is no doubt that other changes both within and outside the wood preservation industry itself are yet to happen. The original differentiation between formulator of wood preservatives and active substance suppliers to the wood preservation industry has become blurred. Some of the active substances used in wood preservation are used in other either other biocidal product types or in products regulated under another directive, e.g. Plant Protection Products Directive 91/414/EC. 10. Data protection This continues to be a key issue for industry and some companies may find it strategically or financially necessary not to support an active substance in a particular product type thus leaving that sector without being able to use the active substance. The coming months will start to reveal which active substances are likely to be supported, at least through the notification process. Formulators are therefore in a close dialogue with their suppliers to try to determine their intentions on whether or not they intend to support their active substance. Today's wood preservative formulations are largely multi active substance based. Product costs, efficacy spectra, niche marketing and other considerations have made this process inevitable. New wood preservative formulations take time to research and develop and the continuity of availability of a choice of active substances is of key importance. A lack of adequate return on investment necessary to sustain the development of new products could have a negative impact on innovation and the rate of introduction of new products. It is extremely unlikely that any new active substance will be solely developed for use in wood preservation. This would be an effect contrary to expectations of the EC. The situation with wood preservatives is complicated by the fact that treated wood is a construction product and comes under the scope of the Construction Products Directive (89/106/EEC) (CPD). Products under the scope of the CPD are required to meet certain so-called essential requirements and one of these is durability. Demonstration of compliance involves the extensive suite of CEN wood preservative efficacy tests. Even relatively small changes in formulations may require extensive re-testing under the EN 599 regime in some Member States. 11. Task Forces Companies are encouraged by the EC to enter into Task Forces in order to reduce the burden of testing on animals and also to reduce the number of dossiers to be reviewed for each active substance. Ideally, and understandably, the EC would like one dossier per active substance. Parts of the wood preservation industry have been co-operating in Task Forces and much practical experience has been gained. Even closer co-operation will be required and this will enable companies to pool experience and expertise and manage their financial exposure to potentially high regulatory costs by sharing them amongst a larger number of parties. 12. Financial aspects Industry will have to make some best guesses with respect to its investment programmes for supporting its portfolio of products. Formulators and active substance suppliers are likely to group into Task Forces in order to reduce their costs in terms of data generation and the fees likely to be charged at the EU and the Member State level for the assessment of the dossiers. The compilation of the dossiers requires specialist expertise to assist the industrial applicant(s). This is likely to cost in the order of £100,000 per active substance, not including the costs of generating any data. The Rapporteur State's costs for reviewing the dossier is also expected to be of the same order. Clearly these kinds of costs will impact on innovation. An adequate payback must be available to the company to justify this level of investment. 13. Will mutual recognition work? Member States are required to recognise the authorisation of the biocidal product placed on the market in the first Member State when subsequent applications are made to place the product on the market. This is a fundamental principle of the BPD, although there is concern that Member States continue to have enough flexibility to prevent this happening if there are particular concerns in that Member State. Industry very much hopes this will not be the case and that mutual recognition, a fundamental principle of the BPD, will work in practice. 14. Environmental aspects Biocidal products such as wood preservatives are generally applied in controlled situations and not over large areas. Consequently any emissions can be considered to be from discreet sources, such as treated timber or potentially from timber treatment plants. This is in contrast to plant protection products and some other biocidal products that are usually dispersed over a relatively large area. Because of this a lot of work is required to be done to re evaluate how the environmental aspects of biocidal products such as wood preservatives can be assessed in an objective manner. The criteria that define an emission and how the PEC (Predicted Environmental Concentration) for each environmental compartment is determined are critical. The wood preservation industry, through the EWPM (European Wood Preservative Manufacturers Group), has been working with institutes and other interested parties in a co-operation known as the EFG (Environment Focus Group) to progress the development of appropriate methodology. Data will be required for both primary and secondary exposure to treated timber. The protocols for this work are yet to be agreed. This work is being further progressed in the OECD together with input from CEN TC 38 WG27. This co-operation between the OECD and CEN is extremely significant in that it is, I believe, the first time such a co-operation has taken place in the development of an OECD Guideline. If one considers all of the end uses where treated timber may be found carrying out a risk assessment with few guidelines on how it should be done is a very uncertain process for both industry and the regulator. Reliance on so-called expert opinion may be inadequate. 15. Comparative assessment (the substitution principle) This is a process whereby the health safety and environmental properties of acti_u101 ? substances used in the same product type could be compared and those with the most undesirable properties would not be placed on Annex I. Consequently biocidal products containing them would have to be removed from the market. This process is embodied in the BPD but it was initially considered that it would only be applied in the event of problems arising with active substances or products containing them rather than being used as a screening tool early on in the review process for active substances. This area is still an uncertain one with Member States having different interpretations of this principle. It is unfortunate that the wood preservation industry could be used to test out this concept at a European level. The consequences of this principle could be further losses of active substances available to the wood preservative formulators. 16. Substances of concern The BPD is not only concerned with the active substances that are formulated into the biocidal product but also with so-called "substances of concern". These are defined as any substance, other than the active substance, which has the inherent capacity to cause an adverse effect on humans, animals or the environment and is present or is produced in a biocidal product in sufficient concentration to create such an effect. There are significant implications for the formulator of the biocidal product . The formulator may have to submit an extensive dossier containing toxicological and metabolic as well as ecological data on each of the substances of concern when seeking approval for the biocidal product. There may be classes of compounds that become unavailable to the formulator either because of the risks posed by the co-formulant or because the cost of generating data will be uneconomic. 17. The wood preservation Industry's view on the BPD Industry has supported the development of the BPD since its conception in 1989. It is still supportive it but believes that the degree of complexity is disproportionate to the level of risk when it comes to wood preservatives. After all wood preservatives have been regulated for a long time and in reality there have been few significant health safety and environmental problems associated with them. Industry believes there is no need to determine an absolute understanding about a biocide and its application but rather there is a need to determine the level of understanding that will enable characterisation so that a risk assessment can be made. The wood preservation industry has sought either directly or through representative bodies a pro-active and collaborative approach with the regulators although at times this appears to have encouraged inappropriate demands. The regulators have invariably responded positively to this however they may not always understand the burden in both time and resource in having made wood preservatives the test case. Industry hopes that its efforts to be pro-active will be recognised and will be dealt with equitably when considered before the other product types defined in the Biocidal Products Directive.
D Aston

Requirements for hosting the Secretariat of IRG
2006 - IRG/WP 06-60227
IRG Secreteriat

The role of third party independent inspection agency for wood preservation industry in China
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20425
This presentation attempts to provide a brief historical background and a current status report on the wood preservation industry in China. In addition, it will briefly introduce the need for building the quality control procedures and China wood protection Quality Supervision and Testing Center, a third-party inspection agency. Besides, some suggestions of this industry are proposed for its furth...
Zhenzhong Tang, Changsheng Shen, Yujie Han, Changming Song

Quality assurance approach of the German TMT manufacturers
2010 - IRG/WP 10-40513
Due to an increasing number of TMT manufacturers in central Europe, an organisation of TMT manufacturers was founded in Germany in the beginning of 2010. Since the current level of product testing and property declaration is not satisfying, one of the first activities is the establishment of a quality assurance system. In this paper a concept for quality assurance (QA) will be outlined....
W Scheiding, C R Welzbacher, A O Rapp

Preservative requirements for exterior particleboard as predicted from accelerated laboratory evaluations
1976 - IRG/WP 265
Arguments for and against preservative treatment of exterior particleboard were considered; it was concluded that preservative treatment is desirable. Laboratory decay tests were conducted to determine levels of sodium pentachlorophenoxide required to protect exterior particleboard from decay fungi. The decay resistance of treated board was compared with that of timber (both naturally durable and ...
M E Hedley

Test Methods – Performance Based Requirements
2004 - IRG/WP 04-20297
In this paper is briefly described the present approach to service life prediction as an essential part of the architectural engineering process. The system of testing the durability of wood is described more in detail including laboratory tests as well as field trials. It is concluded that the system has a lot of weaknesses which makes it less well suited for practical building applications. A le...
M-L Edlund, F Englund, J Jermer, T Nilsson, M Westin, K Ödeen

A study of wood quality of Juglans nigra and hybrid walnut (MJ 209xRA) : durability against Coriolus versicolor, density and MOR
2004 - IRG/WP 04-10522
The study investigated possible effects of harvesting season on some wood properties of Juglan nigra (JN) and a hybrid walnut (MJ209xRA). The samples were taken from trees which were harvested in June July, August, November of the same year, and March in the year after to determine whether there were any significant differences in wood properties as regards the harvesting seasons. In order to test...
B Charrier, F Charrier, D P Kamdem, J B Aurel, G Janin

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