Wood preservatives xylamit as a source of indoor air pollution

Oily wood preservatives Xylamit were used in the residential and public buildingindustry in Poland in the 1960s and 1970s for impregnation and fungicidal treatment.They were a source of air pollution due to the emission of toxic compounds causingthe deterioration of hygienic conditions indoors. The most serious negativeconsequences, felt to this day, were caused by the use of these preparations toimpregnate porous fibreboards laid in the ceilings of buildings as insulation in theindustrial systems of residential building industry (the so-called large panelbuildings). At the time, it was used in a great number of flats (their number isestimated at around 400,000).The consequences of using Xylamit in the building industry are felt to this day.Despite the fact that in the 1980s conditions to remove such defects from buildingswere created, there are still an unknown number of flats in Poland with fibreboardsimpregnated with Xylamit. The Environmental Protection Department in the BuildingResearch Institute performs several expert opinions each year on the presence ofXylamit in buildings in different cities in Poland.