| 41
Top left: Tanasote-treated transmission poles at a UK pole trial across multiple sites Top right: Tanasote-treated track timbers commercially trialled across Europe
Bottom right: Tanasote-treated fence posts trialled from 2018 in partnership with Tim Bennett Farm Fencing. Picture at four years after installation (2022)
For domestic purposes, timber treated with Tanalith E is more appropriate taking into account cost and longevity. Tanalised timbers for exterior use provide a desired service life of 15 to 30 years, depending on end-use application.
PERFORMANCE Currently Tanasote is the only oil-based wood preservative approved under the BPR. All of the active ingredients used in Tanasote S40 are approved for wood preservative use in Europe, with no exclusion criteria met, and no candidates for substitution. The product itself has passed all necessary risk assessments of the BPR for the treatment of timbers to be used in above ground (Use Class 3) and in ground (Use Class 4) industrial heavy duty applications, and is currently authorised for use in 20 Member States, until at least 2031. Substantial investment in the performance testing of Tanasote beyond the required industry standards has been made. Both EN 252 and EN 599-1:2009 + A1:2013 are typically used to predict a service life of between 15 to 30 years. For heavy duty timbers it’s imperative that a longer service life is provided, leading Arxada to engage in additional testing in high humidity and aggressive field test sites, as well as laboratory fungal studies. One such test is the accelerated field stake test using the Fahlstrom stake test method. The Fahlstrom stake test method is an accepted fast approach to determine decay in a real-world environment through the
use of thin stakes. The combination of a very small size and harsh conditions at the aggressive, high humidity field site in Florida, has enabled us to evaluate the long-term performance of Tanasote-treated timber compared with CCA as the reference preservative. In this testing we went beyond the standard CCA retention to demonstrate performance against preservative retention known to deliver a service life of 40 years. In addition, we also compared Tanasote with a water-based copper wood preservative treatment. To provide confidence in our test performance data, Tanasote efficacy data has been reviewed by BM TRADA. Plus, we have also engaged in full scale trials of Tanasote with commercial partners across Europe, covering railway sleepers, utility poles, equestrian fencing and agricultural fencing. Effective wood preservation, with a long- service life against wood destroying fungi and insect attack, means that treated timber can store carbon for decades longer than untreated decay-susceptible wood. Whilst Creosote has such a long history of doing this, its use will be further restricted, if not
withdrawn at some point in the future. Creosote is classified as toxic, persistent, bio-accumulative and carcinogenic and meets the exclusion criteria for biocidal active substances.
If wood is to be kept as a primary material of choice in important agricultural and industrial applications, the industry needs to be bold and adopt modern and innovative BPR-authorised alternatives. For the market to switch to alternative wood protection technologies, performance data and investment in life cycle analysis is crucial. Future wood protection technologies should confidently deliver both high performance and a lower environmental impact than other materials, such as steel and concrete. At Arxada we have invested in assessing the environmental impact of Tanasote-treated timber, encompassing LCAs and EPDs. The LCA results are available on our website – visit
www.trusttanasote.com – and we are progressing with the EPD project. ■
Tanasote® S40 is a BPR authorised product. Use
wood preservatives safely. Always read the label and product information before use.
The regulatory regimes in place today across Europe – EU & GB Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) – require a rigorous evaluation of both the environmental and human health toxicology of wood preservatives for both active substances and biocidal products. ■
www.ttjonline.com | November/December 2022 | TTJ
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85
