Not all wood preservatives are created equal.
Governments and other regulatory bodies are primarily concerned with the effectiveness of wood preservatives, so long as they are not “too toxic”.
This does not mean that all wood preservatives are 100% safe – or that all wood preservatives are on the “same level” in regard to toxicity.
So if you are looking to reduce toxicity in your eco home, some careful product selection is required.
Particular care should be taken in the choice of exterior wood: decking timber, house cladding, weatherboards.
These are the products likely to have higher levels of preservative, and likely to come into human contact.
In 2012 Abodo commissioned a study by Graham Environmental into the relative toxicity of different wood preservatives in the H3 hazard class.