Efficacy and environmental impact of new wood preservatives evaluated by portable labs and field stakes

Wood is an excellent renewable bioresource. However, some products derived from wood, particularly for outdoor applications (utility poles and railway ties) are easily destroyed by high moisture and decay microorganism. Proper wood preservatives must be applied to protect the wood products from deterioration. Wood preservatives have undertaken rapid changes in the past decades due to growing environmental concerns and increasingly strict governmental regulations. Stella-Jones Inc. (SJI), a leading North American manufacturer of treated wood products, has been active in research to develop less hazardous preservatives to minimize the impact of the manufacturing process on the environment. This project intends to thoroughly evaluate the efficacy and environmental impact of a new preservative (a replacement for pentachlorophenol that is being phased out due to environmental concern), iso-thiazolone, 4,5-dichloro-2-n-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one (DCOI) at larger scale. This will allow DCOI-treated wood products to be exposed wood-destroying fungi that naturally present in the environment and evaluate their natural durability in real forest fields. Anticipated outcomes include optimized pressure treating parameters, proof of the efficacy of DCOI on Canadian wood species as well as environmental assessment of this new wood preservative, which will help SJI to license the use of this new preservative in Canada. The resulting benefits include: i) economically, ensure SJI to continuously meet the existing customers’ demand of wood products that are currently treated by PCP, and maintain or increase annual revenues; ii) environmentally, DCOI is nonpersistent, biodegradable and more effective than PCP, thus a low dosage will minimize the impact on the environment; iii) using less hazardous wood preservatives socially increases the public awareness of development of a sustainable bio-economy. All these will set SJI as a good example of a socially and environmentally responsible enterprise for the wood industry. Also, will position Canada as a leader in the world regarding sustainable utilization of bioresource as well as mindful environment protection.