A 'conventional' wooden pallet heat-treatment chamber. Invasive insects can hide in solid-wood packaging.
University Park, Pa. As invasive forest pests such as emerald ash borer and Asian long-horned beetle decimate forests they never should have seen, scientists are investigating ways to slow the introduction of new insects that may be just as devastating. One collaborative project that involves wood-products engineers and entomologists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences is showing promise. The primary goal of the research is to develop alternative and better ways to ensure that pests and pathogens don't hitchhike in pallets and wood packaging used in international shipping. The research could help the more than 170 countries that have agreed to comply with new shipping guidelines known as the International Standard of Phytosanitary Measures No. ISPM-15 - according to John Janowiak, professor of wood products engineering. "Methods of killing pests and pathogens - known as phytosanitation measures - are required for all solid-wood packaging material, such as wooden-constructed shipping pallets, used for import/export commerce worldwide," said Janowiak.
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