Ina Stephan

Biodegradation of a Biocide (Cu-N-Cyclohexyldiazenium Dioxide) Component of a Wood Preservative by a Defined Soil Bacterial Community

ABSTRACT The wood protection industry has refined their products from chrome-, copper-, and arsenate-based wood preservatives toward solely copper-based preservatives in combination with organic biocides. One of these is Cu-HDO, containing the chelation product of copper and N-cyclohexyldiazenium dioxide (HDO). In this study, the fate of isotope-labeled (13C) and nonlabeled (12C) Cu-HDO incorporated in wood sawdust mixed with soil was investigated. HDO concentration was monitored by high-pressure liquid chromatography. The total carbon and the δ13C content of respired CO2, as well as of the soil-wood-sawdust mixture, were determined with an elemental analyzer-isotopic ratio mass spectrometer. The concentration of HDO decreased significantly after 105 days of incubation, and after 24 days the 13CO2 concentration respired from soil increased steadily to a maximum after 64 days of incubation. Phospholipid fatty acid-stable isotope probing (PFA-SIP) analysis revealed that the dominant PFAs C19:0d8,9, C18:0, C18:1ω7, C18:2ω6,9, C17:1d7,8, C16:0, and C16:1ω7 were highly enriched in their δ13C content. Moreover, RNA-SIP identified members of the phylum Acidobacteria and the genera Phenylobacterium and Comamonas that were assimilating carbon from HDO exclusively. Cu-HDO as part of a wood preservative effectively decreased fungal wood decay and overall microbial respiration from soil. In turn, a defined bacterial community was stimulated that was able to metabolize HDO completely.

Biogenic Impact on Materials

Materials as constituents of products or components of technical systems rarely exist in isolation and many must cope with exposure in the natural world. This chapter describes methods that simulate how a material is influenced through contact with living systems such as microorganisms and arthropods. Both unwanted and desirable interactions are considered. This biogenic impact on materials is intimately associated with the environment to which the material is exposed (Materials-Environment Interaction, Chap. 15). Factors such as moisture, temperature and availability of food sources all have a significant influence on biological systems. Corrosion (Chap. 12) and wear (Chap. 13) can also be induced or enhanced in the presence of microorganisms. Section 14.1 introduces the categories between desired (biodegradation) and undesired (biodeterioration) biological effects on materials. It also introduces the role of biocides for the protection of materials. Section 14.2 describes the testing of wood as a building material especially against microorganisms and insects. Section 14.3 characterizes the test methodologies for two other groups of organic materials, namely polymers (Sect. 14.3.1) and paper and textiles (Sect. 14.3.2). Section 14.4 deals with the susceptibility of inorganic materials such as metals (Sect. 14.4.1), concrete (Sect. 14.4.2) and ceramics (Sect. 14.4.3) to biogenic impact. Section 14.5 treats the testing methodology concerned with the performance of coatings and coating materials. In many of these tests specific strains of organisms are employed. It is vital that these strains retain their ability to utilize/attack the substrate from which they were isolated, even when kept for many years in the laboratory. Section 14.6 therefore considers the importance of maintaining robust and representative test organisms that are as capable of utilizing a substrate as their counterparts in nature such that realistic predictions of performance can be made.

Reducing copper leaching from treated wood by sol-gel derived TiO2 and SiO2 depositions

Abstract The antileaching efficacy of sol-gel-derived TiO2- and SiO2-based precursors has been evaluated through laboratory leaching trials with pine sapwood in two different ways. In a one-step process, wood was vacuum impregnated by the precursor solutions containing CuCl2. The copper (Cu) emission rates of the sol-gel-based impregnated woods were up to 70% lower than that of wood treated with pure CuCl2 solution at the same level of concentration. More improvement (80%) could be achieved in a two-step process, in which sol-gel precursors were introduced into an already CuCl2-treated wood. The refinement was attributed to several effects. In the one-step approach, Cu was embedded in the TiO2/SiO2 gels formed in the wood texture. During a two-step impregnation, gel layers that were formed in the wooden interior acted as an effective diffusion barrier. The sol-gel impregnations made wood more hydrophobic; therefore, the low amount of water that penetrated the cell wall was less efficient to leach out Cu.

Environmental and Experimental Factors Affecting Efficacy Testing of Nonporous Plastic Antimicrobial Surfaces

Test methods for efficacy assessment of antimicrobial coatings are not modelled on a hospital environment, and instead use high humidity (>90%) high temperature (37 °C), and no airflow. Therefore, an inoculum will not dry, resulting in an antimicrobial surface exhibiting prolonged antimicrobial activity, as moisture is critical to activity. Liquids will dry quicker in a hospital ward, resulting in a reduced antimicrobial efficacy compared to the existing test, rendering the test results artificially favourable to the antimicrobial claim of the product. This study aimed to assess how hospital room environmental conditions can affect the drying time of an inoculum, and to use this data to inform test parameters for antimicrobial efficacy testing based on the hospital ward. The drying time of different droplet sizes, in a range of environmental conditions likely found in a hospital ward, were recorded (n = 630), and used to create a model to inform users of the experimental conditions required to provide a drying time similar to what can be expected in the hospital ward. Drying time data demonstrated significant (p < 0.05) variance when humidity, temperature, and airflow were assessed. A mathematical model was created to select environmental conditions for in vitro antimicrobial efficacy testing. Drying time in different environmental conditions demonstrates that experimental set-ups affect the amount of time an inoculum stays wet, which in turn may affect the efficacy of an antimicrobial surface. This should be an important consideration for hospitals and other potential users, whilst future tests predict efficacy in the intended end-use environment.