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,
..that life is preserved.
- preserving the environment
- Focused on the future
- Non-toxic
- Life-promoting
Contact:
MASID
Umwelterhaltende Produkte
Vertriebs-GmbH
Auf der Tannenhöhe
35327 Ulrichstein
Tel.: 49 (0) 66 45-91 88 68
Fax: 49 (0) 66 45-78 04 73
Email:
masid@masid.de
:: 24.11.2003: Hessian Broadcasting Corporation
WOOD BLISS 1
Too little poison in the wood preservative
About ten years ago, wood preservatives were discredited as chemical poison cocktails. That is why the RAL seal of the Wood Preservatives Quality Association now exists, certifying its effectiveness and harmlessness to health. But the small company Masid, which produces the non-toxic wood preservative WOOD-BLISS, consisting of natural active ingredients, was refused the seal. The product does not contain any biocides, i.e. active substances that are fatal to pests. Although biocides can also be dangerous for humans. No poison - no seal!
Manufacturer Masid from Dreieich fights in vain for approval of WOOD BLISS
Masid has developed a wood preservative without biocides. However, the company from Dreieich has received neither an approval nor the Blue Angel for their non-toxic product. For the time being, this product is therefore forbidden on the shelves of large DIY stores.
Dreieich – 18th of November - Somehow, it is full of worms. The approval procedure for the pollutant-free wood preservative WOOD BLISS 1, which was developed by Masid from Dreieich in Offenbach region, a company specialising in non-toxic wood preservatives, has been underway for many years. Although the product, which consists of natural active ingredients, contains no insecticides or fungicides, the large German DIY stores do not include it on their shelves due to lack of approval. Up to now, WOOD BLISS 1 has only found a market in organic food stores. Masid has also been fighting in vain for the RAL quality label, which is awarded by the private wood preservative quality association, because this label prescribes biocidal active ingredients for products that bear the name "wood preservative".
The German Institute for Construction Technology (DIBT), the only approval authority for wood preservatives in Germany, has so far rejected the approval on the basis of the same argument. "We are sorry, but the statutes state that the ingredients must include toxins," was the response from the institute based in Berlin.
"We couldn't believe our ears, because the Quality Association for Wood Preservatives was founded to regain consumer confidence," says Masid company owner Christa Eck, recalling the negative headlines about the "poison cocktail" mixtures in wood preservatives at the beginning of the 1990s. In the company, it is assumed that the companies belonging to the General Meeting of the Quality Association, who are themselves wood preservative manufacturers, want to prevent the non-toxic product WOOD BLISS 1 from making its way onto the shelves of large DIY stores.
Others, on the other hand, have long appreciated WOOD BLISS. The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research in St. Gallen, for example, tested the wood preservative and proved its successful efficacy against the eggs and larvae of house longhorn. "The larvae could not drill into wood treated with WOOD BLISS 1. During the biological test, a strong flight behaviour of the larvae could be observed. The mortality rate was 100 percent," according to the investigation report by the Swiss experts.
There was also good news from the Institute for Wood Research at the University of Göttingen. "We are very certain that the agent has a reinforcing effect on surfaces," said Institute Director Professor Holger Militz. He incorporated the Masid product into the EU-funded research project "Hydrophobic" (water repellents) and will be able to say more about WOOD BLISS 1 once the research has been carried out. The professor is aware that the issue with the approval is that the investigation regulations are based on completely different wood protection principles. He is of the opinion that the Dreieich company "still has a lot of work to do to convince the responsible committees".