Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/507696
INDUSTRY What about Moisture – is that an issue? ISPM 15, which mandates the treatment of solid wood pallets and wood packaging to control invasive insects from freely moving around the world, approves of two methods for treating wood: 1) Methylene Bromide (MB) fumigation – treated to a specific temperature-time based schedule outlined in ISPM 15. 2) Standard heat treatment (HT) – the wood material is heated to achieve a minimum core temperature of 56ºC for a minimum of 30 minutes. A drawback is that treatment can increase surface moisture, hence increasing the likelihood of mold. 3) The kiln drying heat treatment (KD-HT) – this treatment process meets the standard HT process with the additional step of reducing the average wood moisture content below the fiber saturation point (19% or 15% moisture content is typical). Initially the pharmaceutical industry thought heat treatment was an answer to control taints. However the pharma industry learned (as the pallet industry learned in 2001) that heat treating was not intended for mold control but for control of invasive species. Furthermore, HT can induce mold growth if the surface moisture remains without taking necessary action through drying or chemical treatment; therefore, it is logical for a lumber company in 16 PalletCentral • March-April 2015 palletcentral.com TABLE 1. LIST OF ORGANOHALOGEN TAINTS IN FOOD AND BEVERAGES Materials Probable Cause of Taints References Eggs and broilers Dried fruit Cocoa powder Cheese Australian sparking wine Brazilian coffee Fine wine Tablets Canned beer Water Sake Milk Calcium caseinate Chicken cage litter containing chlorophenol-treated wood shavings Corrugate and wooden pallets treated with a chlorine- based spray with fungal biomenthylation to form TCA Chlorophenols and chloroanisoles absorbed from packaging materials TCA from wooden pallets contaminated with TCP Champagne corks shipped in polyethylene bags inside corrugate cartons tainted with TCA from a shipping container with TCP-treated wooden floor Tainting of coffee shipments due to TCA/TBA contamination Corking of wine due to TCA/TBA contamination TCA derived from packaging materials contaminated HDPE bottle tainted tablets TCA absorbed into the internal lacquer of the cans during transportation in a shipping container TBA tainting of potable water TCA tainting of Japanese rice wine High density polyethylene resin used to make milk containers contaminated by helophenols during shipment Chemical tainting due to TBA derived from shipping containers Engel et al, 1966; Curtis et al, 1974 Tinsdale and Whitfield, 1989 Whitfield et al, 1985 Maaerse et al, 1985 Simpson & Lee, 1990 Spadone et al, 1990 Buser et al, 1982; Chatonnet et al, 2004 Ramstad and Walker, 1992 Lambert et al, 1993 Malleret and Bruchet, 2002 Miki et al, 2005 Anon, 2007 Andrewes et al, 2010