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Wood preservatives and the European biocide regulations

To preserve, to prevent deterioration in building materials, metals, fabrics, different kinds of coatings. This is the goal of several companies marketing formulates for the protection of materials, that as a good physician, aim at preventing rather than curing. Taking a look at the many products on the market, wood seems to be one of their preferred patients, to be subjected to specific treatments both during its processing and after its use in finished products.

The interest around wood has developed especially in recent years, following a research driven by the run to the so called renewable resources; being biodegradable, workable with low energy costs and above all, completely natural, timber has become again one of the most selected and used building materials.

And this is not only due to the recent fashion trends, but also to the features of timber itself; this is, for instance, used for building in seismic areas, thanks to its high mechanical resistance that gives wood the ability to absorb considerable stress from the outside environment, good elasticity and a decisively lesser mass than concrete.

Wood is also a rather durable material, although it is very important to protect it from the pathogens found in very aggressive environments by using specific preservatives.

The “durability” of wood is an essential aspect when one considers any product made of wood. The so called “natural durability” only concerns the specific wood species, and consists in its intrinsic capacity of contrasting the biodegradation by fungi and insects; on the other hand, its “effective durability” depends on the climatic zone and on how the wood materials are used for a specific project.

Wood preservatives can be of different nature: oils, substances of different types contained in organic solvents or gases, salts dissolved in watery solutions. These aims at stopping the biological degradation caused by fungi and insects, controlling and increasing wood durability. Fungi, that can destroy wood or only stain it, causes aesthetic damages and give wood a particular colouring. In some cases they can also jeopardise the wood natural resistance with rotting it and exercising other harmful actions. Insects, on the other hand, especially termites and beetles, penetrate into wood digging deep tunnels.

Before Directive 98/8/EC and Regulation (EU) no. 528/2012 on biocides, in Italy wood preservatives were sold freely by manufacturers with no special authorisations required. This made their marketing very easy but, at the same time, did not ensure any tested efficacy and safety for users.

Following the introductions of these regulations, wood preservatives were included in one of the 22 Product Types, i.e. groups of formulations with biocidal action whose marketing is regulated at European level; PT 8 is actually the group of products “used for the preservation of wood, from and including the saw-mill stage, or wood products by the control of wood-destroying or wood-disfiguring organisms, including insects. This product type includes both preventive and curative products.”

The intention at the base of Directive 98/8/EC, Regulation 528/2012 and previous relevant regulations was to collect all active substances on the market, only selecting those considered as more suitable for the formulation of biocide products, by a dedicated review program. The deadline for such program had originally been scheduled in 2014, but it has been then postponed to 2024. Italy is currently in a transition period where some wood preservatives should necessarily be authorized as biocides, other are still for free sale while others, containing specific active substances, cannot be either registered or marketed anymore.

Written by: Federica Montozzi

Foto di: Mabel Amber, who will one day da Pixabay