BIOCIDES
and is currently authorised for use in 20 member states , until at least 2031 .
Testing above & beyond
In order to bring any wood preservative system to market in Europe , they must be subjected to standard biological efficacy testing against decay fungi and wood destroying insects . 2 Whilst this suite of tests allows approval bodies to compare preservatives like-for-like , Arxada ’ s development team subjects formulations to even more stringent and demanding tests . All of Arxada ’ s wood preservatives are subject to additional laboratory fungal decay tests against the nonstandard , very aggressive rogue fungi , such as Fibroporia ( Antrodia ) vaillantii , which has been known to cause significant mass-loss to competing products . Fungal cellar tests are also used to stress the
Pine utility poles treated with Tanasote S40
treated timber in accelerated groundcontact scenarios . Finally , all Arxada test formulations are used to treat test-stakes , which are installed in aggressive high humidity locations in Europe , North America , and Asia in order to compare their performance in ground contact applications with well-known ( now withdrawn ) industrial preservatives , such as CCA and creosote . In testing , Tanasote S40 controlled F . vaillantii at the lowest concentration tested , well below the commercial retention , and continues to perform as well as high levels of CCA (> 12 kg / m 2 required in BS5589 for 40 year service life of softwoods ) and industrial levels of creosote in accordance with AWPA E7-15 stake testing ( Figure 2 ). 3 , 4 In order to assess the impacts on health and the environment , life cycle assessments ( LCAs ) for Tanasote S40-treated wood , used as both poles and sleepers , have been undertaken by an independent organisation under ISO 14044 . 5 These cover the production and transport of raw materials , manufacturing ( including energy consumption and waste production ), and the emissions over the whole lifetime , as well as end-oflife management . The results of the LCAs conducted show the ‘ normalised impacts ’ per European person emission equivalent , which is equal to the impacts in Europe in one year weighted by the population . For both poles and sleepers , the LCAs demonstrate how wooden articles treated with Tanasote S40 have the lowest impact when compared with alternative materials .
From micro-biological design to bulk tanker deliveries
Tanasote S40 has been purposely designed with optimised retentions of highly effective active substances to deliver long service lives in industrial timbers . It was commercialised in March 2021 , and was awarded the 2021 Innovation Award by the UK Wood Protection Association . It has also been approved by independent assessors under the Nordic Wood Preservation Council NTR scheme and the French Technical Institute CTB-P + scheme . Over ten years since conception , Arxada ’ s manufacturing site in Huddersfield UK has been expanded to scale up successfully from laboratory trials to a newly designed and installed commercial production unit to manufacture the European requirements of today . Work has already begun on the expansion for years to come . •
* Tanasote is a registered trademark of Arxada
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References :
1 : Uphill et al ., ‘ An Update on the Status of Heavy Duty Preservatives in Europe ’. Proceedings IRG Annual Meeting ( ISSN 2000-8953 ) 2022
2 : Durability of wood and wood-based products . Efficacy of preventive wood preservatives
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as determined by biological tests Specification according to use class . BS EN 599-1 : 2009 + A1:2013
3 : Code of Practice for Preservation of Timber . BS 5589 , 89th Edition , October 15 , 1997
4 : Standard Field Test for Evaluation of Wood Preservatives to be used
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in Ground Contact ( UC4A , UC4B , UC4C ); Stake Test . AWPA E7-15
5 : Environmental Management – Life Cycle Analysis – Requirements and Guidelines . ISO 14044 : 2006
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Dr Stephen Uphill
ARXADA
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20 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981