Boron is naturally occurring and ubiquitous in the environment. It is an essential micronutrient for healthy plant growth and an important nutrient in the human diet. Stand-alone borate wood preservatives, disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) and zinc borate (ZB) being the most prominent, have low environmental impact. DOT decomposes in the environment to natural borates while ZB can decompose under certain conditions to sparingly water-soluble zinc hydroxide and water-soluble boric acid. The toxicological features of DOT and ZB are presented below.

Toxicological information

	DOT	ZB
Ingestion	Low acute oral toxicity	Low acute oral toxicity
Skin/Dermal	Low acute dermal toxicity	Low acute dermal toxicity
Inhalation	Low acute inhalation toxicity	Low acute inhalation toxicity
Skin Irritation	Non-irritant	Non-irritant
Eye Irritation	Non-irritant in normal industrial use	Non-irritant in normal industrial use
Sensitization	Not a skin sensitizer	Not a skin sensitizer

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