Termiticidal effects of a glycol borate wood surface treatment

A remedial wood treatment product known as BORA-CARE?, which contains disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) in a solution of poly- and mono-ethylene glycols, was evaluated in laboratory tests against the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). In the first test, hemlock cubes (20 by 20 by 20 mm) were dipped twice in a 1:1 (by volume) aqueous dilution of DOT/glycol (23.54% DOT by weight) and air-dried. All termites exposed to the cubes in a laboratory test died within 2 weeks, with no feeding on the treated cubes. When a treated cube was placed on top of an untreated cube, termites moved over the treated cube, but fed only minimally on the untreated cubes before dying. In the second test, termite feeding and mortality were compared from exposure to wood treated with either the DOT/glycol solution or the ethylene glycol solvent for the product. Very limited feeding and 100 percent termite mortality resulted from exposure to wood treated with DOT/glycol. In comparison to the control blocks, treatment with the ethylene glycol solvent alone resulted in a small but significant increase in termite mortality (17%) and decrease in feeding. The high concentration of DOT in poly- and mono-ethylene glycols deposited on the surface of wood treated with DOT/glycol and ingested during termite grooming behavior and/or attempted feeding killed termites and protected the wood surface from termite penetration.

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