What are CCA and ACZA preservatives?
The CCA preservative is a formulation of chromated copper arsenate, a formulation found to be highly effective as a wood preservative. Each of the three elements in CCA and ACZAare important to the overall performance. Copper and Zinc are normally associated with piping, metal roofs and perhaps coined money. However, in certain forms, it is an effective fungicide. It is the copper that lends CCA and ACZA treated wood its unique greenish cast — which, over time, weathers to a driftwood gray (CCA), dark to light brown and dark brown to black (ACZA). Chromium,(not contained in ACZA), which also helps to protect against certain fungi, plays an important part in the fixation of preservative to the wood fiber in CCA. The arsenic in ACZA and CCA preservatives is pentavalent arsenate, a naturally-occurring trace element in the soil, water, air, plants, and in the tissues of most living creatures, including man. When it is fixed in the wood cells as copper arsenate and chrome arsenate, it is t
