IRG Newsletter 0106

01/2006 03 March

Member News

Greetings from the President
Greetings to all IRG Members and Sponsors!
READ LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Regulatory News

Europe: Chromium - active substance or fixative?
There has been much debate about the status of chromium in wood preservative products in the framework of Directive 98/8/EC (see also IRG News in Brief 04/2005). These discussions have resulted in a number of EU documents being produced. Under the 2nd review regulation (2032/2003/EG), chromium has now the status of being only identified (after all participants which notified it withdrew) and this means that biocidal products containing chromium as an active substance cannot be placed on the market after 1 September 2006. However, chromium can be used in wood preservatives for other purposes (e.g. as a fixative agent) providing it can be demonstrated that the chromium is not functioning as an active substance in those products. Therefore, applicants must provide data, which clearly demonstrates that chromium contained in a wood preservation product for which authorisation is requested, is not functioning as an active substance under normal conditions of use. The UK competent authority (the Health and Safety Executive, HSE) has asked the Commission and Member States to agree to a harmonised approach to the resolution of the issue regarding chromium in biocidal products.
The Competent Authorities meeting of the representatives of the Member States have decided on 12-13 December that the Technical Meeting has to consider whether hexavalent Chromium is an active substance or not. Member states and industry are asked to express their interest in participating to the UK CA and the European Chemicals Bureau.
(From WEI-IEO Newsletter Issue 7/05 – December 2005)

Europe: Biocidal Products Directive & the import of treated articles
At present, the BPD does not cover treated timber products as such and thus it could be so that wood products imported into the EU are treated with products that the European wood preservation industry cannot longer use. The European Commission was considering 4 options:

Wait for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation;
Setting up a specific labelling and product information requirements for articles treated with biocides;
Setting up a separate, simplified evaluation and approval system for the active substances in treated articles;
An obligation to authorise treated articles.

WEI has already, on 23 November 2004, sent a position paper that reflected the 4th option to the EU Commission. The European Commission has now appointed Milieu Ltd and the Danish Toxicology Centre to carry out a review of the policy options to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment by avoiding unacceptable risks from active substances released unintentionally from treated materials. As this issue is of utmost importance to level the playing field for EU producers and importers to the EU, WEI, together with the consultants, worked on a questionnaire together with the consultants. This questionnaire can be obtained from the WEI Secretariat.
(From WEI-IEO Newsletter Issue 7/05 – December 2005)

Europe: Re-use of wood treated with Arsenic compounds
On 15 February 2006, the EU Limitations Committee and Working Group on Dangerous Substances had a meeting where the Member States discussed a new proposal from the EU Commission to change Commission Directive 2003/2/EC of 6 January 2003 on Arsenic compounds.
The new proposal has two main objectives:

Adapt to the provisions to the Biocidal Products Directive;
Lay out rules for the re-use and second hand market.

To allow the re-use of wood treated with Arsenic compounds, the European Commission proposes to make a change to point 20 of Annex I to the EU Marketing and Use Directive Directive 76/769/EEC and to include the following paragraphs:
2. Wood treated with arsenic compounds that was in use in the Community or that was placed on the market before the entry into force of this Directive,

may be reused for the same purpose or an other purpose, subject to the limitations mentioned under para 1. i), ii) , iii) or,
may be placed on the second hand market for such reuses.

3. The use of wood treated with arsenic compounds that was in use in the Community before the entry into force of this Directive and which remains in place, may continue until it reaches the end of its service life.
The proposal was discussed by the 25 Member States on 15 February and all agreed on the principle to allow re-use. The wording can vary slightly as it still has to be reviewed by the Legal department and DG Environment, but the principle will stand.
The intention of the Commission is to put the text for formal vote during the June meeting of the EU Limitations Committee, which would mean that it will come into force in September/October of 2006.
(From WEI-IEO Newsletter Issue 1/06 – February 2006)
Read the full text here

Germany: Dangerous substances in building products
Products used in construction contain many organic and inorganic substances which may be released into the air inside buildings, or into the soil and groundwater, through abrasion, degassing, leaching or corrosion, and so pose a danger to the environment and human health. Adequate toxicological assessments are often lacking for components such as solvents in paints and adhesives; biocides, plasticisers, binding agents and flame retardants in floorings, plastics and wood-based panels; additives in mineral construction materials; heavy metals in water piping and roofing materials; or undesirable admixtures used in recycling processes. Therefore, properties such as bioaccumulation or persistency cannot be ruled out; nor can the possibility of carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic effects, or toxic, sensitizing, irritating or ecotoxic effects.
Read the full text here

Germany: How to judge release of dangerous substances from construction products to soil and groundwater
For construction products to be accepted on the EU market they need to fulfil essential requirement number 3 as specified in the Construction Products Directive 89/106/EEC. This work is meant as preparation and guidance to the CEN work on dangerous substances and provides a generic approach to deal with the release of a broad range of contaminants from a wide range of construction products to soil and groundwater. The key question is if there is a potential ‘unacceptable’ release of contaminants from the construction product to soil & groundwater and how this can be determined.
Read more about a new research project

Business News

Rotorua timber treatment technology brings jobs to city
A technological breakthrough from two Rotorua companies may well create up to 50 new jobs and inject millions into the city's economy. It's a joint development by Kop-Coat, the Rotorua-based NZ division of an American wood production company and Rotorua engineering company Plural Spray. At least 20 hi-tech timber treatment devices will be made locally for export to the United States, Canada and other countries. The revolutionary new machinery is designed to give timber products a strong protective coating and employs cryogenic technology developed by NASA and the University of Texas.
The importance of developing more sophisticated and effective wood protection has increased tenfold in recent years, as a result of the "leaky buildings" crisis, termite invasions and other threats. Kop-Coat manager Cameron Scott said his company had secured contracts to build and sell at least 20 of the "Tru-Core" machines over the next year. One of the machines has been sold to Red Stag Timber in Rotorua and 10 others were also operational around New Zealand.
While Plural Spray has has designed and is building the machines, several other Rotorua manufacturing firms, including Orca Engineering, and Rhino Plastics are contracted to build the components - extra work that translates to about 35 to 50 new jobs for the district.
(From Friday Offcuts – 10 February 2006).
Read more here

Wolman receives approval for the American marked
Wolman has succeeded in obtaining the registration approval by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a chromium and arsenic-free vacuum-pressure product. The EPA registration has been achieved for the active ingredient Copper-HDO as well as for the chromium and arsenic-free wood preservative Protectol^® CX Type A, based on Cu-HDO. Wolman says that the product Protectol^® CX Type A is comparable with Wolmanit® CX-10. On legal grounds Wolman proceeds with the registered trademark Protectol^® in the USA. The product has also been taken up by the American Wood Preservers' Association (AWPA).
Read more here

Scientific News

People in the News

Walter Liese 80 years old
Professor (emer.) Dr. forest. Dr. h.c. (mult.) Walter Liese, in 1969 one out of the 22 IRG founding members from 9 countries, was born on January 31, 1926, in Berlin and grew up in his nearby hometown Eberswalde. From 1963 to 1991 he was Head of the Institute for Wood Biology at the University of Hamburg and, at the same time, Director of the Institute for Wood Biology and Wood Protection at the Federal Research Centre for Forestry and Forest Products, Hamburg (BFH), giving lectures in wood biology and wood protection. For 5 years during this period he was also Executive Director of BFH. Walter Liese's interest in science arose under the influence of his father Johannes Liese, Professor of Forest Botany in Eberswalde. As early as 1951 he had his first contact with bamboo, a group of plants in which he has retained a lifelong interest.
After retirement, his scientific activities focused almost entirely on bamboo, the "poor people's timber", and on the dissemination of his knowledge and experience to those who could make best use of it, the rural population in East and Southeast Asia, Central Africa and Central America. Besides these activities, he continued as co-editor of Wood Science and Technology by the end of 1995. During the last 15 years, Walter Liese travelled about 20 times to China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Ethiopia, Ghana, Costa Rica and Columbia, giving more than 30 lectures, taking part in countless discussions and providing advice. He also made numerous trips within Europe and Germany. In the same period, he published about 70 papers on bamboo and rattan, among them two books, one on bamboo anatomy and the other on bamboo preservation.

Extracted from
Dieter Eckstein & Uwe Schmitt
Trees and wood for life: Walter Liese 80 years old. Wood Sci Technol (2006) 40: 2-3

Read the press release

Mrs Marianne Cockcroft 70 years old
Congratulations to Mrs Marianne Cockcroft, wife of former Secretary-General Ron Cockcroft and well-known to all "old" IRG-members, who celebrates her 70th birthday on 13 March.

Marianne Cockcroft with Dr Kunio Tsunoda at IRG 18 in Honey Harbour, Canada

IRG Secretariat News

New members
The IRG welcomes the following new members:
READ INFORMATION

IRG 37 in Tromsø, Norway

This is a reminder to Members and Sponsors that the 37th Annual Meeting will take place in Tromsø, Norway, on 18 - 22 June 2006. The meeting will be held at Rica Ishavshotel, which is located in the city centre close to the harbour.
The invitation and registration package is now available on the IRG website www.irg-wp.com or www.irg37.com. No hard copies have been distributed.
NB. The Meeting will be held during the peak tourist season in Northern Norway, so you are kindly advised to book your accommodation and travel arrangements early.
The IRG 37 Organizing Committee reports that if you use the online accommodation registration (Form B) on the web-site, you will get no immediate confirmation. Please, do not re-send Form B several times. The confirmation of hotel reservation will be sent to you from the Local Organizers after a couple of days either by e-mail, fax or regular mail.
The hotels in Tromsø have no vacancies during the conference, and it is difficult to promise rooms before and after the conference, i.e. 18 to 23 June. There are some rooms still available from the 16 and 17 June and to 25 June at Rica Ishavshotel, however. To get the best use of rooms booked it is possible that the Organizing Committee later will move some participants staying only from 18 to 23 June from Rica Ishavshotel to SAS Radisson even if they have got a confirmation for Rica Ishavshotel. It is only two minutes walk between the hotels.

Invoicing 2006
The invoices for fees due in 2006 were dispatched recently. If you have not received your invoice, please contact the Secretariat immediately and we will send a new.
Please pay as soon as possible in order to avoid reminders!
To facilitate your payment, go to www.irg-wp.com and take advantage of credit card payment by the secure site for membership renewal.

Papers for IRG 37 - deadline 15 April 2006
The deadlines for IRG 37 papers is 15 April 2006. Please prepare papers in accordance with the Guidelines for the preparation of an IRG Document, which is downloadable from the IRG website.
There is no need to submit abstracts in advance.
Poster abstracts, however, must be submitted in MS Word format by 15 April 2006.
Please meet the deadline to help the Secretariat to distribute the documents CD-ROM well before the meeting.

The IRG Compendium
On-line access to the Compendium (IRG documents 1969-2005 in pdf format) is now available for members and sponsors having paid their 2006 dues.
Log in information is e-mailed as soon as your payment has been received and registered by the Secretariat. Click on "Search an IRG document" on the IRG website and then on "Sign in".
Please report any difficulties you may have to get access to the Compendium.
A DVD version of the Compendium will also be available and can be ordered in connection with paying the 2006 dues.
NB. For those who have ordered the Compendium DVD it will be distributed together with the Directory towards the end of March.

IRG Directory 2006
The 2006 edition of the International Directory of Members and Sponsors is under preparation and we expect to distribute it in a couple of weeks.
This is a final reminder to check your entry and report back to the Secretariat by return if there are any changes.

Sponsor the IRG e-Newsletter!
IRG regular sponsors and members' institutes are kindly invited to sponsor the production of the IRG e-Newsletter in order to cover the costs involved for production of the same.
The IRG e-Newsletter is scheduled for six issues per year, and for each issue a sponsor is welcome. The fee for sponsoring the e-Newsletter is USD 275 (SEK 2.100) in 2006. The e-Newsletter sponsor will then get the company/institute logo on the front page and a link to the company/institute website.
For sponsoring the first 2006 issue of the e-Newsletter, Osmose Inc is kindly acknowledged. Please contact the IRG Secretariat, if you are interested in sponsoring the e-Newsletter.

Legal Information
Read legal information here

Editorial
If you have information related to wood protection being of general interest for Regular Members, Student Members or IRG Sponsors, please email to the NiB editor with the name of the web page and the URL.