Effect of oxalic, acetic acid, and ammonia on leaching of Cr and Cu from preserved wood

Wood treated with CCB (chromated copper borate) has an expected service life of 20–50 years, depending on conditions of service and method of treatment. After this period, treated wood is discarded as special waste. Due to toxic elements (Cu, Cr, and B) in such treated wood, burning and landfill disposal are not considered as environmentally sound solutions. Chemical extraction seems more promising. The principle of the method is to convert fixed biocides in wood into soluble form and leach them out of the wood. In order to elucidate this process, copper(II) sulfate, potassium dichromate, and CCB-treated samples were leached using five different agents, namely, water, an aqueous solution of oxalic or acetic acid, and an aqueous solution of oxalic or acetic acid with ammonia. Afterwards, the amounts of leached copper and chromium were determined. In a parallel experiment, electron paramagnetic resonance measurements of wet- and dry-leached and unleached samples were performed in order to determine the paramagnetic complexes that were formed. The highest chromium leaching was achieved with the aqueous solution of oxalic acid, as chromium was converted into water-soluble chromium oxalate. While the mixture of oxalic acid and ammonia resulted in the highest copper leaching, EPR observation revealed that in this case water-soluble complexes of copper, oxalic acid, and ammonia were formed. We found out that oxalates formation is not the only mechanism responsible for copper or chromium leaching. High acidity may play an important role too.