Your search resulted in 369 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.
Biological degradation resistance of pine wood treated with dimethylol compounds
1989 - IRG/WP 3528
The study reports the increase of dimensional stability and biological degradation resistance of pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L) after impregnation with dimethyloldibydroxyethyleneurea. Decay resistance was determined according to BS 838:961. Nearly complete protection against Coniophora puteana, (Schum.ex Fr. Karst) weight loss of 2-3% was shown when modification, expressed as weight gain, exceede...
C L Videlov
Removal of heavy metals from treated wood using biological methods
2005 - IRG/WP 05-50226
Heavy metals were removed from wood treated with copper based preservatives using brown-rot fungus Fomitopsis palustris. The amount of effective elements removed by treatment methods was examined. The relationship between oxalic acid concentration and the amount of heavy metals removed from each treated wood was also investigated. The relationship between fungus weight and removal rate was also in...
Dong-won Son, Dong-heub Lee
Practical consideration in developing an international hazard class standard: The hazards and risks
1996 - IRG/WP 96-20091
This paper discusses the concept of hazards and risks in relation to the way in which the hazard class philosophy may be used for international standardization. The difference between hazard and risk is considered as a basis for a simple classification of biological hazards for timber in use based upon its service environment. The paper proposes that the moderating influences within a service envi...
R J Orsler
Experience with an industrial scale-up for the biological purification of CCA-treated wood waste
1997 - IRG/WP 97-50095
The biological purification of CCA-treated wood waste was tested in co-operation of the BFH and the Italian impregnation plant SoFoMe. Chipped poles were infested with the chromium and arsenic tolerant brown-rot fungus Antrodia vaillantii which can transform in the laboratory ca. 90% of the chromium and arsenic into watersoluble salts. These can be leached to 100-200 ppm residual metal content. Th...
H Leithoff, R-D Peek
Antagonistic effect of Trichoderma spp. against Serpula lacrymans in the soil treatment test
1991 - IRG/WP 1473
Soil treatment tests for preventing growth of Serpula lacrymans were conducted using Trichoderma spp. as antagonists. Soil specimens tested were Kanuma-soil without organic matter and the horticultural soil which was collected from the test site of the stake test. Perfect efficacy of treatment with Trichoderma spp. was shown when the horticultural soil without sterilization was used as a soil spec...
S Doi, A Yamada
Biological control of blue stain on wood with Pseudomonas cepacia 6253. Laboratory and field test
1989 - IRG/WP 1380
Pseudomonas cepacia strain 6253 was tested as a biological control agent on wood samples under laboratory conditions, as well as in the field. In the laboratory this bacterium controlled blue stain on Pinus radiata, but field test were not totally satisfactory. However, after 2 months of field test, the test samples were 1/3 to 1/2 less stained then the control samples....
R Benko
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
Bacteria as possible organisms for biological control of blue stain
1988 - IRG/WP 1339
The article discusses the possibilities of biological control of blue stain. Besides using some antagonistic fungi, the possibility of using antagonistic bacteria, which offer still greater possibilities, should not be overlooked. Tests performed have shown that some bacteria from the genera Streptomyces and Pseudomonas have a strong antagonistic effect of blue stain....
R Benko
The leachability and specificity of the biological protection of timber using Scytalidium sp. and Trichoderma spp
1986 - IRG/WP 1302
The results of field experiments, using biological control against internal decay of creosoted poles, are briefly reviewed and the evidence concerning the leachability of the antibiotics produced by these species is presented. A pure culture miniblock decay test on biological control treated pine sapwood is described and the results compared to previously published data. The protection against Len...
P I Morris, N A Summers, D J Dickinson
Wood preservation in Kenya
2000 - IRG/WP 00-40191
Current research on wood preservation in Kenya is mainly on the development of biological control of wood-destroying termite species, using mycoinsecticides. The major research institutions include the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), Moi University and the International Centre for Insect Physiology (ICIPE). Training institutions include Fore...
G Ochiel
Less environmental impact of wood preservatives by considering the risk of attack in addition to the hazard class system
1995 - IRG/WP 95-50040-10
Hazard classes, which are standardized in Europe in EN 335, are most useful to direct chemical wood preservation towards the organisms which may attack wood in the various fields of utilisation. However, hazard only signifies the fact that an attack may occur without considering the actual risk to attack. To minimize the application of chemicals with respect of less environmental impact it is nece...
H Willeitner
The effect of treatment temperature on the biological performance of CCA treated wood
1990 - IRG/WP 3624
Birch and Scots pine sapwood blocks were treated with several concentrations of CCA at three different temperatures: 5, 20 and 35°C. The treated wood was maintained at the appropriate temperature for the fixation period. Leached and unleached samples were then exposed in a soft rot monoculture test using Chaetomium globosum and a brown rot monoculture test using Coniophora puteana. The treatment ...
S M Gray
Developments in wood preservation
1978 - IRG/WP 3121
The purpose of this paper is to comment very briefly upon recent developments and trends in wood preservation so that members of this Working Group have a basic knowledge of activities in other countries. The last paper was prepared in September 1977 and the present paper refers to developments since that time....
B A Richardson
Developments in wood preservation processing techniques in New Zealand
1980 - IRG/WP 3143
P Vinden, A J McQuire
The Chemical and Biological Properties of Polymeric Betaine
2009 - IRG/WP 09-30512
Didecyl polyoxyethyl ammonium borate (DPAB), also known as Polymeric Betaine, was developed as a co-biocide for chromium-free copper based wood preservatives in Europe in the 1980’s. DPAB as a wood preservative has been reported previously. This paper summarizes the chemical, physical, and biological properties of DPAB. ...
H Härtner, S Schmitt, Futong Cui, H M Barnes
Dimensional stability, biological resistance, and mechanical properties of phenol-resin-treated particleboard
1990 - IRG/WP 3622
Particleboards were treated with a low molecular-weight phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin and their enhanced properties were evaluated. Besides dipping of particles in aqeous solutions of resin, and spraying of resin solutions before spray of the conventional phenol-formaldehyde resin for adhesive binder, one step treatment by spraying of the mixture of the low molecular-weight resin and the adhesive...
Y Imamura, H Kajita
Biological resistance of phenol-resin treated wood
1990 - IRG/WP 3602
Biological resistance of PF (phenol formaldehyde resin) - treated wood has been tested in relation to the resin properties, wood species and biological factors. When tested using water-soluble PF (mol. wt. 170), ca. 10% RI (resin impregnation) was enough to suppress the decay of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) blocks exposed to Tyromyces palustris (br...
M Takahashi, Y Imamura
Sustainability Through New Technologies for Enhanced Wood Durability. COST Action E37 – A New Action in the Forestry Domain
2004 - IRG/WP 04-40293
The main overall objective of the action is to concentrate on the contribution of wood durability on the sustainability through the development of systems for quality assurance and perfoamance of modified wood and wood products as alternatives to wood treated with traditional preservatives. By this means it seeks to improve and consequently increase the cost-effective use of sustainably produced E...
R-D Peek
Novel wood modification processes for window and cladding products
2004 - IRG/WP 04-40285
Because of the low natural durability and low dimensional stability of European wood species, the usage of wood for window frames has decreased dramatically during the last decade. In a joint project of several German research institutes and the window industry, following wood modification systems were compared.
heat treatment (3 different materials from 2 companies)
acetylation (pine sapwood an...
A Krause, C Hof, H Militz
Leaching of CCA components from treated wood under acidic conditions
1993 - IRG/WP 93-50004
The leaching of CCA components from treated wood under acidic conditions were investigated. Western hemlock treated with three types of CCA and two levels of target retention was subjected to leaching at four different levels of pH. After leaching tests, leached samples were subjected to laboratory decay and soft rot tests. The amount of CCA components leached was dependent on acidity of leaching ...
Jae-Jin Kim, Gyu-Hyeok Kim
Three dimensional computer representations of growth of microbial populations in wood
1984 - IRG/WP 1243
Creosoted distribution poles inoculated with either Lentinus lepideus, biological control organisms including Triochoderma or combinations of both were extensively sampled to monitor the spread of organisms. A computer program which enabled the results to be portrayed in a three dimensional graphic form was developed and is illustrated. Results showed that computer mapping of this type usefully en...
A Bruce, B King, C Bruce, G M Smith
The yeast Pichia sp. As a short-term biological control agent to fungal spoilage of sawn softwood timber
2000 - IRG/WP 00-10362
Previous work has found isolates of the yeast Pichia to be a successful biological control agent toward moulding of fruits. An isolate was tested for the ability to protect sapwood of Pinus sylvestris timber against visual degrade by surface growth of moulds and staining fungi. Successful protection of autoclaved wood sprayed with a mixture of common wood moulding fungi was achieved when the yeast...
C Payne, H J Staines, A Bruce
Waste management of wood products in life cycle assessment
2000 - IRG/WP 00-50154
Within the framework of the European project LIFE SYS WOOD (contractnr. FAIR CT95-7026) TNO has performed a study on the waste management of wood demolition waste for inclusion in Life Cycle Assessment. In LIFE SYS WOOD one of the main aims was to develop a consistent LCA methodology for wood products. LCA case studies have been performed by partners on wood as raw material, glulam contructions, O...
P Esser, P Eggels, A Voss
Remedial treatment of wood attacked by insects
1981 - IRG/WP 3175
A review is presented of remedial treatments against wood-boring insects in wood in service. Preconditions and fundamental principles of insect control are compared with the control of fungal attack and reasons are given for the fact that remedial treatments against insects are more commonly applied than against fungi. With regard to insect control measures with a simultaneous preventive effective...
H Kühne
Effects of Trichoderma harzianum on enzyme activity and oxalic acid production of Gloeophyllum trabeum in ponderosa pine sapwood blocks
1992 - IRG/WP 92-1550
The effect of a bioprotectant, Trichoderma harzianum, on the activity of Gloeophyllum trabeum was investigated using a wood wafer sandwich method. Wood weight loss was greatest with Gloeophyllum trabeum exposed wafers, intermediate with those exposed to both the bioprotectant and decay fungus, and lowest with the bioprotectant exposed wafers. Extracts of wood wafers after 2, 4, or 6 weeks of funga...
C M Sexton, J J Morrell