The toxicity of wood preservatives to stock

Extract

Preservatives in this class are balanced mixtures of soluble salts in which arsenate is the main toxicradical. When timber is impregnated with these solutions and dried, the salts are deposited amongst the wood fibres as microcrystalline compounds which are relatively insoluble. The proportions of the salts in the treating solutions and their interactions during the drying period determine how firmly the toxic ingredients will be; fixed in the wood. For timber that will be subjected to severe conditions of weathering and ground contact use, as is the case with fence posts, good retention of arsenic against leaching is essential. It follows, therefore, that the greater the degree of fixation of an arsenical preservative for fence-post treatment, the less will be the hazard to exposed livestock.