IRG Documents Database and Compendium


Search and Download IRG Documents:



Between and , sort by


Displaying your search results

Your search resulted in 460 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.


An in-ground natural durability field test of Australian timbers and exotic reference species. Part 5: Extensive data from a site where both decay and termites are active. Results from a full-replicated set of heartwood specimens from each of ten myrtaceous hardwoods after 18, 19 and 20 years' exposure - A discussion paper
1988 - IRG/WP 2324
Extensive data are presented on the decay situation, the termite situation and the decay-termite associations; all gathered from a fully-replicated set of heartwood specimens of 10 hardwood timbers after 18, 19 and 20 years' exposure in the ground at a single test site, i.e. a semi-arid steppe site. Sixteen tables are presented in addition to the one table providing the rating data; the l...
J D Thornton, G C Johnson, J W Creffield


Environmental situation on wood preservation industries in Bangladesh
2000 - IRG/WP 00-50148
The hazard that wood preservative chemicals pose to people and the environment is serious. The lack of information, legislation and awareness create an unfavorable situation on wood preservation industries. In this regard, three wood preservation industries have been visited to collect the information about pollution. It was observed that different steps have been taken to minimize the contaminati...
K Akhter


Kiln drying of CCA-treated wood - Some safety and environmental considerations
1987 - IRG/WP 3443
Vapours and condensate from a condenser kiln in which CCA-treated wood was being dried have been collected and analysed. The concentrations of arsenic, copper and chromium found in the vapours from the drying process were well below Swedish threshold limit values. The contents of arsenic and chromium were also low in the condensate, although the copper content was fairly high. The latter result wa...
J Jermer, B Lundberg


International standards and the biocide debate - Potential contribution
2000 - IRG/WP 00-20196
Downstream the European 98/8/EEC directive on biocides, a working party of O.E.C.D. has been developing a tremendous work to put together the background information necessary to assess wood preservative efficacy, environmental and human exposure. Standardization may contribute to those efforts, using traditional experience and methodology. Among them, the hazard classification system may be extend...
G Ozanne


The natural durability assessment of secondary hardwood species - laboratory tests
1998 - IRG/WP 98-10295
Laboratory tests have been undertaken to assess the natural durability of 16 species of lesser known hardwoods, or hardwoods from non-traditional sources, including teak from three different plantations. Resistance to decay by both basidiomycetes and soil-inhabiting micro-fungi has been established. ´The data indicated that published information on the durability of these timbers should be treat...
J K Carey, S J Hendry


Assessment of the toxicity of some copper-, zinc- and boron-based wood preservatives to the cellar fungus Coniophora cerebella Schröet
1974 - IRG/WP 242
This article reports the use of a method based on the determination of the probability of the protection of timber against destruction by fungi. By converting the probability values to probit values and plotting them as a function of the amount of preservative retained in the timber, curves of the toxic effect are obtained, enabling any timber protection probability to be assessed....
V N Sozonova, D A Belenkov


Life-cycle assessement of treated wood: A view from the roa
1996 - IRG/WP 96-50078
Life Cycle Assessement (LCA) is being used increasingly as a tool to structure information on the environmental characteristics of material and processes. This paper is based on the experience gained from our LCA studies on treated wood products over the last 4 years. The comprehensive and logical examination af the information available on treated timber provided by LCA has allowed identification...
W Hillier, R J Murphy, D J Dickinson, J N B Bell


Initial results and observations of a model system to assess the efficacy and environmetal impact of preservative treated wood
1993 - IRG/WP 93-50001-02
The development of a closed model system for the laboratory assessment of the efficacy and environmental impact of a chromated fluoride remedial treatment for creosoted distribution poles has been described (IRG/WP/2395-92). The model consists of a precipitation apparatus above a treated pole section positioned in a soil profile from which leachate was collected via a series of simulated field dra...
D C R Sinclair, G M Smith, A Bruce, H J Staines


Comparative life cycle assessment of Swiss railroad sleepers
1998 - IRG/WP 98-50117
The results of an environmental LCA carried out on railway sleepers made of prestressed concrete, sectional steel and creosote impregnated beech as used on main lines of Switzerland's railways are presented. All extractions from and insertions into the environment which were connected with the manufacture, use and disposal of the different types of sleeper were inventoried and assessed, i...
T Künniger, K Richter


International comparison of three field methods for assessing the in-ground termite resistance of materials - highlights after two years
1999 - IRG/WP 99-20157
First-year results of a comparative study, evaluating the in-ground termite resistance of a range of materials, including CCA and ACQ-treated timbers, using the below-ground exposure, ground contact and graveyard methods against diverse termite faunas were provided in IRG/WP/98-20132. Further annual inspections have confirmed early trends and identified notable differences between sites and method...
M Lenz, J W Creffield, A F Preston, B M Kard, C Vongkaluang, Y Sornnuwat


Chemical and biological studies of organotin treated and painted wood stakes after outdoor exposure
1987 - IRG/WP 3419
Organotin based wood preservatives containing tributyltin oxide (TBTO) or tributyltin naphthenate (TBTN) are used in Sweden mainly for double-vacuum treatments of window joinery of Pinus sylvestris. After impregnation the joinery is painted or stained in different colours. To evaluate this effect (different colours on the degree of degradation of TBTO and TBTN, effected by different temperatures i...
M-L Edlund, B Henningsson


Field stake test assessment with the Pilodyn
1980 - IRG/WP 2136
The Pilodyn, which was originally developed to estimate the degree of soft rot in wooden poles, was thought to have potential for giving a quantitative measure of the extent or depth of decay in field test stakes. In the present work a 2-joule Pilodyn with 2.0-mm diameter pin was used in an attempt to limit depth of pin penetration (to 10-15 mm) without reducing scale sensitivity. The results show...
M E Hedley, R W Naish


The environmental chemistry of chromium: Science vs. U.S. law
1993 - IRG/WP 93-50014
The cooperation which existed among chromium chemical producers, industrial health laboratories, and governmet agencies was destroyed after 1970 by the advent of environmental activism and regulatory legislation. As prewar plants had been found to pose a serious cancer risk, this fact was the basis of EPA regulations, especially during the term of Joe Califano in HEW under Jimmy Carter. However, a...
W H Hartford


The influence of soil pH on leaching of CCA elements from pressure-treated Eucalyptus saligna sapwood: environmental implication
2003 - IRG/WP 03-50203
Evidence is accumulating as to poor distribution and fixation of CCA in tropical hardwoods, and there is therefore a necessity to investigate the permanency of CCA in tropical hardwoods. The relationship between soil pH and leaching of Cu, Cr and As from CCA pressure-treated sapwood of Kenyan-grown Eucalyptus saligna was tested under laboratory conditions. Small sapwood samples were pressure-tre...
R Venkatasamy, D N Okwara


Effect of angle of exposure on degradation of radiata pine during weathering trials
1988 - IRG/WP 2301
The importance of angle of exposure on the degree of weathering of materials has not been adequately resolved. In conventional tests, specimens are exposed at an angle of 45° facing the equator, but more recently experiments on polymeric materials have suggested that an angle of 0° may be preferable since this angle maximises levels of received ultra-violet radiation. In this paper the degradati...
P D Evans


Biological detoxification processes - A check list for assessments
1998 - IRG/WP 98-50120
The number of scientific publications on the biological purification of preservative treated wood implies that the biological treatment of wood wastes becomes more and more important. But an information about a successful industrial application is almost missing in all cases. Therefore the applicability of the proposed purification processes is often uncertain. The feasability of such a biological...
H Leithoff, R-D Peek


Protection of rubberwood with modified creosote
1998 - IRG/WP 98-30165
Creosote is a renowned wood preservative but has certain disadvantages like obnoxius odour and colour, with its unpaintability and bleeding from wood surface may create environmental hazards. An effort has been made to isolate chemical fractions from creosote to obtain clean odourless preservative formulations by subjecting to steam distillation (SVC). Rubberwood treated with SVC and tested for it...
H C Nagaveni, H S Ananthapadmanabha, G Vijayalakshmi, M N Sharma, K H Shankaranarayana


The degradation of wood surfaces by water
1984 - IRG/WP 3289
Thin radial/longitudinal sections (~100 µ) of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and lime (Tilia vulgaris), were exposed to deionised water over the temperature range 25-65°C. Losses in wet tensile strength and toughness occurred rapidly at temperatures from about 50°C upwards. After about 2 months' exposure pine lost some 10-30% of its tensile strength and 20-60% of its toughness. For lime...
W B Banks, P D Evans


A serial exposure technique for estimating probable service life of treated timber
1978 - IRG/WP 2111
This paper briefly describes part of our preliminary work aimed at developing a test procedure that culd be adopted as a standard method. A detailed version of the work has been submitted for formal publication. In both papers, the aim is to promote interest in extended laboratory testing of wood preservatives. It is believed that this work may provide the basis of a laboratory test procedure from...
J A Butcher


A preliminary assessment of the penetration into wood achieved by bodied mayonnaise emulsion wood preservatives
1992 - IRG/WP 92-3725
Five different commercial formulations of bodied mayonnaise emulsions were applied to samples of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) sapwood as recommended by the manufacturers. Penetration and loading characteristics were determined by measuring the distribution profiles of the active ingredients after various intervals of time. The changes in the general appearance of the emulsions on the surface of t...
G E Holland, R J Orsler


BRE Experience in monitoring decay in out-of-ground exposure trials
1995 - IRG/WP 95-20077
The outdoor field trial has always been regarded as the ultimate test of performance for assessing the effectiveness of a wood preservative. For this reason, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) has invested much effort in such trials over many years. Emphasis in early trials was on ground contact tests which were the basis both for assessing the likely performance of a preservative in protec...
J K Carey, R J Orsler


Will political initiatives stop the use of preservative-treated wood in Sweden?
1990 - IRG/WP 3578
The Swedish government has initiated several investigations on how to reduce the use of different chemicals. Among these chemicals are creosote, arsenic, chromium and organotin. A special investigation was carried out concerning wood preservatives resulting in different proposals on how to reduce the use of preservatives and preservative treated wood. The most important proposals were an "environm...
J Jermer, M-L Edlund


A below-ground exposure method for determining the resistance of woody and non-woody materials to attack by subterranean termites
1993 - IRG/WP 93-10012
With existing field test procedures, in which specimens are installed vertically to some of their length into the ground and spaced out from each other ("grave-yard" tests), variations in the rate of contact by termites between replicates can be common. Mechanical damage to specimens during inspection and re-installation may also be difficult to avoid. A new field test method, evaluated in Austral...
M Lenz, J W Creffield


Preliminary studies to assess the effects of aeration and lowered humidity on the decay capacity, growth and survival of the dry rot fungus Serpula lacrymans (Wulf ex. Fr.)
1997 - IRG/WP 97-10208
Novel microcosms were used to test separately the effects of aeration and humidity on the decay capacity, linear spread and survival of Serpula lacrymans. The application of a pumped air supply resulted in an effective cessation of fungal activity when all but the lowest of the air flow rates was used. Furthermore, the lowest air flow rate caused marked growth tropisms away from the stress. In sep...
G A Low, J W Palfreyman, N A White, H J Staines, A Bruce


Comparison of three methods for assessing the in-ground termite resistance of treated timber, durable timber and plastics at sites in Australia, USA and Thailand - First results
1998 - IRG/WP 98-20132
The in-ground resistance of materials to attack by subterranean termites is most commonly assessed with one form or another of the conventional graveyard method, despite the significant shortcomings of this method. In Australia, an alternative method, in which all samples of test materials are placed below-ground, has been in use for more than 10 years. The method provides reliable exposure of sam...
M Lenz, A F Preston, J W Creffield, K J Archer, B M Kard, C Vongkaluang, Y Sornnuwat


Previous Page | Next Page