Preservative penetration - determination of active substances in wood

Wood preservatives have to fulfil certain retention requirements which are adapted to the intended use of the wood. This ability has to be demonstrate d for the registration of wood preservatives. Penetration depth has to be c ontrolled during the manufacturing of impregnated wood. By means of a few e xamples it is demonstrated how the penetration depth of active ingredients can be determined by chemical analyses. Limits of this procedure are partic ularly described. Advantages and disadvantages of chemical analyses in comp arison with biological tests are discussed.