Abstract
The goals of this study were to evaluate borate/amine/zinc formulations in wood for fungal decay protection as well as the permanence of zinc and boron in wood. Wood treated with each of four formulations of borate/amine/zinc prevented or decreased fungal degradation after a 12-week AWPA Standard soil-block test. For non-leached specimens, wood treated with borax/amine/zinc formulations required retention of 1.2% to prevent decay by Gloeophyllum trabeum (Gt) and Trametes versicolor (Tv), whereas that of DOT/amine/zinc formulations required 0.6% to be effective. For leached specimens, only DOT/ dicyandiamide/zinc formulation prevented decay by both Gt and Tv but required high loading of 5.4 to 5.5% chemicals. The other three formulations were ineffective against both fungi. Elemental analysis showed that decay protection of DOT/dicyandiamide/zinc formulation in wood after 2 weeks water leaching was attributed to higher boron and zinc contents than that of the other three borate/amine/zinc formulations. The leach-resistant zinc in the treated wood did not translate into effective decay protection compared with the copper formulations (Chen 2010).
Keywords
Wood preservatives,
borates,
boron,
leaching,
brown rot,
wood-decaying fungi,
wood biodegradation,
fungicides,
wood deterioration,
biodegradation,
Gloeophyllum trabeum,
Trametes versicolor,
preserved wood,
wood preservation,
zinc,
amines,
borax,
preservative treated wood,
treated wood,
boron compounds,
preservative treatment,
wood decay,
biocides,
decay resistance,
decay fungi,
soil block testing,
fungicidal properties,
preservatives,
Disodium octaborate tetrahydrate,
DOT,
dicyandiamide,
impregnation,
fungal decay protection,
borate/amine/zinc formulations
Citation
Chen, George C.; Ibach, Rebecca E. 2010. Laboratory evaluation of borate/amine/zinc formulations for fungal decay protection. In: Proceedings, One hundred sixth annual meeting of the American Wood Protection Association. 2010 May 23-25. Savannah, GA. Volume 106. Birmingham, AL: American Wood Protection Association, c2010: p. 139-145.
