The influence of extractives on the radiation stability of wood

Summary The critical dose above which a decrease in toughness of Western Red Cedar and Peroba wood, extracted with benzene-alcohol is noted, was determined to be approximately 0.5×10⁶ rad lower than that for the same non-extracted species. Investigations have shown that the presence of benzene-alcohol extractives in wood raises its radiation stability. This conclusion is supported by the fact that the toughness curve which generally falls with increasing doses of absorbed irradiation shows a steeper decrease for extracted than for nonextracted wood.