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Borates Are Everywhere!
Borates in Your Environment
The borates in ProWood® Borate treated lumber are naturally occurring mineral salts that are essential to growing plants and nutritionally important to people. They’re harmless to humans and safe for pets and the environment.
Borate products have been used safely for more than 100 years. In fact, they’re everywhere—in your home, in your food, and in your yard. Common items and materials containing borates or their parent element, boron, are listed below.
Common Borate Uses:
• Laundry detergents
• Eye drops
• Plant fertilizers
• Cosmetics
• Drinking water (boron)
• Wallboard
• Fiberglass, including sporting equipment such as surf boards, golf clubs, snowmobiles, and jet skis
• Ceramic tiles
• Porcelain enamel covering sinks, refrigerators, and pots and pans.
• Soaps
• Face lotions
• Make-up
• Contact-lens solutions
• Cotton fabrics
• Motor oil
• Recycled paper
Borate-Treated Lumber Around the World
And of course, borates are used in lumber and plywood to protect against termites and decay. Borate-treated lumber like ProWood Borate has been used successfully around the world for decades. Since 1992, more than 30,000 homes have been built in the U.S. with borate-treated materials. As a durable building material, borate-treated lumber’s popularity has rapidly increased: the number of treatment plants that manufacture it has doubled since 2001.
Borate-treated lumber has been used in New Zealand for over 50 years to protect against wood-destroying pests like termites. The state of Hawaii, which has a substantial Formosan termite population, requires that borate-treated wood be used for the framing and structural components of new buildings to prevent termite damage. Borate-treated lumber has been used effectively for termite control there for over 10 years.
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