Wood preservative testing

Abstract

Most wood species used in commercial and residential construction have little natural biological durability and will suffer from biodeterioration when exposed to moisture. Historically, this problem has been overcome by treating wood for outdoor use with toxic wood preservatives. As societal acceptance of chemical use changes, there is continual pressure to develop and market new types of durable wood products. In the last few years, several new types of wood preservatives have become available, and other new formulations are expected to appear on the near horizon. There is also increasing interest in nontraditional wood products, including wood-plastic composites (WPCs), chemically modified wood, and thermally modified wood, which are believed to be as durable as traditional wood products, yet are nontoxic.The rapid evolutionof durable wood products has further highlighted an old problem in wood protection-namely, how do we evaluate long-term durability with short-termtests? This challenge is complicated by the wide range of exposure environments, types of structures, and service-life expectations.

Citation

Ibach, Rebecca; Lebow, Stan T. 2012. Wood preservative testing. In: McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology, 2012. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012: 317-319: ISBN : 978-007-177403-1.