Release of Copper from Wood Treated with Micronized Copper Preservatives

摘要

Micronized copper wood preservatives are based on a novel copper technology and are widely used in today's North American wood preservation market. Unlike the traditional alkaline copper preservatives where copper is solubilized in aqueous ethanolamine solution, micronized copper formulations do not use the organic solvent mono-ethanolamine. Instead, sparsely water soluble copper compounds, such as basic copper carbonate, are "micronized" into particulates and dispersed in water instead of using water soluble forms of copper compounds or complexes. There are currently two commercially available micronized copper systems, namely micronized copper quat (MCQ) where dimethyldidecylammonium carbonate/bicarbonate is used as a co-biocide and micronized copper azole (MCA) where either tebuconazole or a tebuconazole/propiconazole combination is used as a co-biocide. However, since its commercial introduction in 2007, MCA has become the dominant micronized copper preservative in North America.