Laboratory study of toxicity or tolerance of CCA preservative and heavy metal constituents copper, chromium and arsenic to Malaysian tropical fungi

CCA preservative and its constituent heavy metal tolerance and toxicity to 3 Malaysian isolates Phialophora fastigiata (soft rot fungus), Paecilomyces variotii (mould fungus) and an unidentified white rot Basidiomycete, was investigated by the modified ‘Strange-Smith’ agarwell- plate technique with 1.6% CCA concentration and the malt-agar-plate bioassay technique with a range of CCA and constituent metal salt concentrations of 0.0024 – 5%m/m. Daily linear hyphal extension was measured between 6 and 22 days depending on relative fungal growth rates. The slow growing Phialophora fastigiata sustained mean daily hyphal growth (mm) at relatively higher concentrations of CCA preservative (toxic limits: 0.24 – 0.48%m/m) and their heavy metal constituents (copper-salt: 5.0 – 10.0%m/m; chromium-salt: 0.076 – 0.24%m/m) than the faster growing mould isolate Paecilomyces variotii (CCA: 0.019 – 0.076%m/m; chromiumsalt: 0.076 – 0.24%m/m) and the white rot Basidiomycete of intermediate growth rate (CCA: 0.076 – 0.24%m/m; copper-salt: 0.076 – 0.24%m/m; chromium-salt: 0.0095 – 0.019%m/m) except for arsenic-salt (Phialophora fastigiata: 0.076 – 0.24%m/m; Paecilomyces variotii: 0.48 – 0.95%m/m; Basidiomycete: 0.24 – 0.48%m/m). The results showing varying efficacies (toxicity versus tolerance) in vitro of CCA and their metal constituents between these fungi can have implications to ground-contact wood protection capabilities of CCA

Coir and Sisal Fibers as Fillers in the Production of Eucalyptus Medium Density Particleboards - MDP

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential use of sisal and coir fibers in combination with Eucalyptus particles for the production of particleboard. The particleboards were produced in three layers. The first and third layers (face) were made with small Eucalyptus particles. The second layer (core) was made with big Eucalyptus particles in combination with coir or sisal fibers. The particleboards were prepared with the substitution on Eucalyptus wood for sisal and coir fibers in the particleboards core, in doses of 0, 10, and 20%, relative to the total mass of particles. The particleboards were characterized by mechanical, physical and thermal properties. The results were not satisfactory for particleboards with sisal. However, for coir particleboards the physical-mechanical properties were very similar to those particleboards produced only with Eucalyptus. This work demonstrates the potential use of the coir that is commonly disposed in landfills on the Brazilian beaches