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Environmental Fate of Micronized Copper
2015 - IRG/WP 15-50310
The environmental fate of wood preservatives is an important aspect to estimate the health and environmental impact. Although biocides from treated wood may be released into the soil, water or air, the latter pathway is frequently neglected in favour of leaching studies. Nonetheless, wood dust is well known to cause a variety of adverse health effects, in particular diseases to the respiratory tra...
C Civardi, L Schlagenhauf, J Benz, C Hirsch, J Van den Bulcke, M Schubert, J Van Acker, P Wick,


Recycling of used railroad ties via two-staged pyrolysis for fractionation of wood preservatives and bio-oil: pyrolytic characterization by TGA and Py-GC/MS
2015 - IRG/WP 15-50311
Creosote and copper naphthenate (CuNap) (in an oil carrier) treated railroad tie materials (crossties or sleepers) were initially heat-treated at 200 – 300 oC and subsequently pyrolyzed via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to recover wood preservatives and produce a higher quality bio-oil. Preservative-desorptive temperatures at 200 a...
Pyoungchung Kim, J Lloyd, Jae-Woo Kim, N Labbe


Effect of exposure site on metal migration from copper azole, alkaline copper quat or chromated copper arsenate treated southern pine decking
2015 - IRG/WP 15-50313
Metal migration from chromated copper arsenate, copper azole or alkaline copper quaternary compound treated southern pine lumber was assessed at sites in Mississippi and Oregon. Metal levels tended to be consistently higher in decks exposed in Mississippi. Rainfall characteristics did differ slightly at the two sites, but the levels did not appear to be of a magnitude that might affect metal mobi...
J J Morrell, H M Barnes


The copper-transporting ATPase pump and its potential role in copper-tolerance
2016 - IRG/WP 16-10859
Copper-tolerant brown-rot decay fungi exploit intricate mechanisms to neutralize the efficacy of copper-containing preservative formulations. The production and accumulation of oxalate is the most widely recognized theory regarding the mechanism of copper-tolerance in these fungi. The role of oxalate, however, may be only one part of a series of necessary components required for this complex mecha...
K M Ohno, C A Clausen, F Green III, G Stanosz


Release of Copper from Pressure Treated Wood
2016 - IRG/WP 16-20584
Micronized copper based wood preservatives including micronized copper quat (MCQ) and micronized copper azole (MCA) have been introduced commercially to the North American market since 2006 as alternatives to alkaline copper quat (ACQ) or soluble copper azole (CA) preservatives. Unlike ACQ or CA, MCQ and MCA use dispersed particulate copper particles rather than soluble ionic copper to make treat...
Jun Zhang, J Horton


Performance of copper treated poles and posts after three to fifteen years of exposure
2016 - IRG/WP 16-20595
Copper based wood preservatives are one of the most important wood preservatives for heavy-duty applications. Wood treated with copper-based preservatives performs excellent if applied according to preservative specifications. If used improperly premature failures might appear. In order to elucidate properties of copper treated wood in use, utility poles and posts treated with copper-based preserv...
M Humar, N Thaler


Moisture monitoring in WW2 partisan hospital Franja
2016 - IRG/WP 16-20596
Material climate of wood used for construction of WW2 Partisan hospital Franja was monitored for approximately one year. Partisan hospital is located in the bottom of tiny gorge Pasice in Slovenia. Hence, wood moisture content on eight respective location and wood temperature was determined twice per day with Scanntronik equipment Gigamodul and Thermofox. The results clearly showed that despite of...
M Humar, N Thaler, B Lesar, A Žagar


Evidence for a role for precipitated copper on the chemistry of micronized copper treatments
2016 - IRG/WP 16-30690
Micronized copper preservative treatments of softwoods, result in mobile copper being formed by reaction of the basic copper carbonate (BCC) with the carboxylic acid functional groups in hemicellulose and pectic substances present in wood. Typically, the amount of reacted copper formed is approximately 0.3% Cu m/m. In this paper, two examples are discussed where remaining unreacted basic copper ca...
Wei Xue, P Kennepohl, J N R Ruddick


Untreated and copper-treated wood soaked in sodium oxalate: Effects of decay by copper-tolerant and copper-sensitive fungi
2017 - IRG/WP 17-10888
Copper is widely used as the primary component in wood protectants because it demonstrates a broad range of biocidal properties. However, a key concern with using copper in wood preservative formulations is the possibility for brown-rot basidiomycetes to resist the toxic effect. Many brown-rot basidiomycetes have evolved mechanisms, like the production and accumulation of oxalate, which helps thes...
K M Ohno, G T Kirker, A B Bishell, C A Clausen


Overview of the treated wood quality control program in the United States with the recent challenges and advances
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20616
In the past two decades, there have been significant and rapid changes in wood protection technologies for residential applications which have moved away from long established heavy duty metal oxide based products such as chromated copper arsenate (CCA). The successor generation of wood protection systems usually contain copper as the primary biocide, in combination with carbon-based co-biocides s...
L Jin


Development of a new method for wood hydrophobizing and fixation of copper compounds by chemical hardening of vegetable based modified oils
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40754
Wood products with ground and direct water contact, but without sufficient biological durability, have to be protected against biological degradation by fungi and other microorganisms. Due to European legislation (Biocidal Products Regulation 528/2012), the selection of possible chemical agents, which are still allowed to be used, is diminishing rapidly. The use of previously widely applied, very ...
C Swaboda, M Fischer, K Jacobs


Activity of Two Strobilurin Fungicides Against Three Species of Decay Fungi in Agar Plate Tests
2017 - IRG/WP 17-30704
The objective of this study was to examine the toxicity of strobilurin fungicides against wood decay fungi in order to assess their potential to act as a co-biocide for copper-based wood protection. Two strobilurin fungicides, Heritage (50% azoxystrobin active ingredient) and Insignia (20% pyraclostrobin active ingredients), and copper sulfate pentahydrate were tested against one white rot fungus...
J D Tang, T Ciaramitaro, M Tomaso-Peterson, S V Diehl


Field Performance of Refractory Species Treated with MCA
2017 - IRG/WP 17-30706
Micronized copper azole (MCA) has been used extensively over the past decade to preserve southern pine, and other wide sapwood species. Treatment of refractory species is less common, in part due to concerns about treatability and resulting efficacy. To address these concerns, white spruce and Pacific silver fir stakes, and lodgepole pine and red pine posts, were pressure-treated with multiple ret...
R Stirling, J K Ingram, P I Morris


Controlled deposition of copper nanoparticles using wood inherent architecture as natural template
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40783
As one of the most abundant renewable biomass resources, wood can be used as templates for synthesizing functional nanoparticles with controlled shapes and sizes. In this study, copper nanoparticles were synthesized with controlled shapes and sizes using poplar wood as the natural inexpensive and renewable templates. The crystal structure and morphologies of the copper nanoparticles were character...
Youming Dong, Kaili Wang, Yutao Yan, Jianzhang Li, M Hughes, Shifeng Zhang


Treatability of beechwood railway sleepers with potential creosote substitutes
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40790
Maintenance of an efficient railway infrastructure still requires the use of wooden railway sleepers, particularly because wooden sleepers have more favourable properties for intensified vibrations than concrete or steel sleepers. Creosote, used for decades for the impregnation of railway sleepers, will possibly no longer be available for this application due to European legislation. This reveals ...
N Pfabigan, E Habla, R Gründlinger


Borate and Copper Naphthenate Dual Treatment of Bridge Timbers-Borate movement over time
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40795
Preservative treated wooden bridge ties in the South Eastern USA have a service life of about 15 to 20 years, which falls well below the average service life of 40 years of railroad cross ties (sleepers). It has been shown that cross tie life is significantly extended using borate dual treatment and this is now commercialized in bridge timbers using borate inserts. In previous research, it was dem...
J-W Kim, J D Lloyd


Dual Borate and Copper Naphthenate Treatment of Bridge Timbers:- Potential Performance Enhancements and Cost Savings
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40797
Dual treatment technology combining diffusible preservatives with oil borne preservatives, widely used for crossties in the USA, has now also been commercialized with bridge ties/timbers. In order to understand the implications of these changes, the historic service life of creosote treated bridge timbers in northern and southeastern USA were considered as well as field test data for both creosote...
J Lloyd, C Brischke, R Bennett, A Taylor


A Green and Novel Technology for Recovering Copper and Wood from Treated Wood Waste – Part II: Optimization, copper metal recovery, and process design
2017 - IRG/WP 17-50326
The US consumes 70 million pounds of copper and produces 580 million cubic feet treated wood annually. The EPA disallows burning and reusing treated wood waste due to health/environmental concerns. Vast quantities of copper and wood are landfilled. Two safe and low cost extraction systems, citric acid and ammonium citrate, were identified in Part I of this study. In Part II of the study, effects o...
S Chen, R Patel


Review of Leaching Experiments of CCA-Treated Wood and Wood Treated with Copper-based Alternatives
2017 - IRG/WP 17-50330
The objective of this study was to compare leaching rates of various wood preservatives from treated wood and the tests used to gather this information. The preservatives compared included CCA and the copper-based alternatives, MCQ, ACQ, and MCA. The tests compared included AWPA E11, SPLP, TCLP, and environmental leaching tests. Among all of the tests evaluated, environmental tests most closely si...
A Jones, J Marini, H Solo-Gabriele


Uncertainty in life cycle assessment of preservative treated wood – copper and freshwater ecotoxicity
2017 - IRG/WP 17-50331
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method for quantifying the environmental impacts of a product over the life cycle. In the last years, there have been a growing application of LCA in developments of environmental product declaration (EPD), which is utilised by professional procurement of materials for buildings. For legislative issues, LCA have also been used to assess application of creosote to t...
L G F Tellnes


Can CCA be substituted as reference preservative?
2018 - IRG/WP 18-20641
While field testing of wood protective formulations remains probably the best method to find out the effective preservative concentration, the use of chrome-copper arsenate (CCA) as reference becomes debatable due to environmental and legislative reasons. This emerges from the European standardization bodies who have discussed reference alternatives that can omit the use of CCA. The present debate...
N Terziev, M Jebrane, P Larsson Brelid, N Morsing, P-O Flaete, P Torniainen, J S Kim, G Daniel


Influence of different triazoles as co-biocides in wood preservatives on efficacy and the environmental impact
2018 - IRG/WP 18-50333
In this study we investigated the efficacy and impact on the environment of different co-biocide triazoles in wood preservatives. Four different formulations (all containing 9.5% Copper) contained individual and combinations of cyproconazole, tebuconazole, propiconazole as co-biocides. Four formulations were tested according to EN 113 and EN 84 (ageing) to determine the brv for each formulation. T...
M Klamer, T Jensen, S Bang-Achton, E Morsing


Accumulation of copper in parenchyma cells in southern pine wood treated with micronized and amine-copper preservatives
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20657
Our previous research used X-ray micro-computed tomography to examine the micro-distribution of copper in southern pine wood treated with a micronized wood preservative (MCA) and an amine-copper preservative (ACQ). We found that copper in wood treated with MCA was mainly concentrated in fusiform rays (rays containing resin canals), and in vertical (axial) resin canals. A similar, although not iden...
D Feng, M L Turner, A Limaye, M A Knackstedt, P D Evans


COPPER NAPHTHENATE: A Product for All Seasons: Protecting the Americas’ Infrastructure for Over 100 Years and Potential for Expanded Usage in Europe
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30738
This paper is a brief review of the history and use of the wood preservative Copper Naphthenate, with a focus on use patterns within the USA and opportunities for expansion in Europe and Canada. This paper reviews how copper naphthenate has performed to preserve and protect cellulosic and wooden items essential to critical infrastructure, and why it is the ideal choice for use in the replacement o...
M H Freeman, J A Brient, M Manning


Relative efficacy of various oxine copper formulations against brown-rot fungi
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30741
This paper investigates the relative resistance of three different oxine copper formulations (oil-borne, water-borne, water-borne with pH-adjustment) as a preservative treatment for wood against brown-rot fungi. Impregnated southern pine sapwood cubes were exposed to R. placenta and G. trabeum cultures in a soil-block test. After eight weeks, the weight losses of the cubes were examined in relatio...
M Petruch, J Lloyd, A Taylor


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