Preservatives are added to wood to protect the wood from insect and fungal attack. Traditional waterborne based preservatives (use water as a carrier to transport the chemicals into the wood) utilize copper as the primary fungicide. Common waterborne preservatives include chromated copper arsenate (CCA), micronized copper quat (MCQ), and micronized copper azole (MCA). Although these chemicals are retained by the wood over many years, they do leach slowly over time which cumulatively can impact soil and water. Much of my work in this area has focused on evaluating the environmental impacts of waterborne wood preservatives in the environment.
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Please visit the following web sites to see listings of some of our past research projects.
