Biodegradability Studies of Certain Wood Preservatives in Groundwater as Determined by the Respirometric Bod Oxitop Method

This study focuses on the biodegradability measurements of tall oil-based wood preservatives and their raw materials in groundwater as determined by the respirometric BOD OxiTop method. Certain substances were also analyzed in standard conditions described by OECD 301 F. Results show that creosote oil, a traditional wood preservative, does not biodegrade at all in groundwater over a period of 28 days, while tall oil and linseed oil biodegrade to some degree (13.4% and 14.8%, respectively). On the other hand, degrees of biodegradation of linseed oil, tall oil and creosote oil in the extra mineral and microbe including conditions described by OECD 301 F were 72.9%, 54.3% and 24.9% after 28 days, respectively. Studied raw materials of tall oil-based wood preservative production biodegrade to some degree in groundwater (variability from 11.9% to 18%) and quite effectively in OECD 301 F test (variability from 39% to 71.7%) over a period of 28 days. Abiotic degradation may also be significant with the studied substances.