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Title: Wood preservative chromated copper arsenate is a substrate for trimethylarsine biosynthesis. [Candida humicola]

Journal Article · · Appl. Environ. Microbiol.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6666418

The wood preservative chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is a very widely used product. As it contains both copper and arsenic, it is not dissimilar to the pigments Scheele's green and Schweinfurter's green which were found to be biologically convertible to the toxic Gosio gas (B. Gosio, Ber. 30:1024-1026, 1897) later identified by Challenger and co-workers as trimethylarsine (F. Challenger, Adv. Enzymol. 12:429-491, 1951). Thus, it was of interest to determine whether microbiological action on CCA and wood treated with CCA could result in the production of trimethylarsine. The authors report that the fungus Candida humicola will produce this arsine from dilute solutions of CCA and from wood soaked in CCA. 12 references.

Research Organization:
Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver
OSTI ID:
6666418
Journal Information:
Appl. Environ. Microbiol.; (United States), Vol. 47:2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English