KHWOZ wrote:
Thanks everyone for replying. Enzyme11, what are QUAT AMMONIA PRODUCTS ?? After reading these posts, I think I will use concrete, cinder blocks or wood from the trees I cut down.
My spelling wasn't so good -- it should have been quat (quaternary) ammonium. Anyway, a prevalent replacement for CCA (chromium copper arsenic) wood treatment has been ammonia copper quaternary (ACQ) compounds, which usually are a varying combination of quaternary ammonium or amine, ammonia, and copper. Of those, I'm least crazy about the copper, but I'm suspicious of what quat compounds might be used also. I believe the ammonia mostly is present as a carrier, but I don't know if the copper is in the cuprous or cupric form. The ACQ technology may be somewhat proprietary, and it seems to be a step in the right direction from the so-safe-for-so-many-years-and-yet-so-dangerous CCA. (Some in the forum may not know that the Dirt Doctor went out on a limb as an early and quite correct opponent of CCA wood treatment, for which he received undeserved criticism then -- and no apologies now, I imagine.)
Ordinary ammonia is NH3 with an overall neutral charge. Quaternary ammonium is NR4+ with 4 "R" groups bonded to the central nitrogen atom, and the overall net charge is +1. The R groups could be a lot of things; if they are methyl groups (CH3), then that specific quaternary ammonium molecule would be a tetramethylammonium ion. Whatever associates with that ion makes up the rest of the molecule; a halogen like bromine or chlorine with their -1 charge is an example. Quaternary ammoniums or amines can have widely varied physical characteristics, depending on what the R groups are and on what is/are connected to those R groups. Two broad categories of quaternary ammonium compounds are surfactants on the one hand and biocides on the other. QA compounds are common in hospital disinfectants, and they can be pretty severe materials. The physical nature of quat ammonium/amines gives/can give them a chameleon quality. One of the first commercial consumer examples of quat ammonium product that I remember (at least I think I remember) was the combination shampoo and conditioner products -- Pert, I believe, is the earliest one I remember seeing.