Modelling inorganic biocide emission from treated wood in water

The objective of this work is to develop a chemical model for explaining the leaching behaviour of inorganic biocides from treated wood. The standard leaching test XP CEN/TS14429 was applied to a commercial construction material made of treated Pinus sylvestris (Copper Boron Azole preservative). The experimental results were used for developing a chemical model under PHREEQC^® (a geochemical software, with LLNL, MINTEQ data bases) by considering the released species detected in the eluates: main biocides Cu and B, other trace biocides (Cr and Zn), other elements like Ca, K, Cl, SO₄⁻², dissolved organic matter (DOC). The model is based on chemical phenomena at liquid/solid interfaces (complexation, ion exchange and hydrolysis) and is satisfactory for the leaching behaviour representation. The simulation results confronted with the experiments confirmed the hypotheses of: (1) biocide fixation by surface complexation reactions with wood specific sites (carboxyl and phenol for Cu, Zn, Cr(III), aliphatic hydroxyl for B, ion exchange to a lesser extent) and (2) biocide mobilisation by extractives (DOC) coming from the wood. The maximum of Cu, Cr(III) and Zn fixation occurred at neutral pH (including the natural pH of wood), while B fixation was favoured at alkaline pH.