On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 22:43:34 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

Why bother? I've yet to see anything (insect or fungus) seriously
eating fibreboard/chipboard/mdf or WHY. Prolonged wet on the other
hand will cause the stuff to expand and fall apart but still nothing
actually eats it. I think the formaldehyde(sp), or the adhesives in
general, used in manufacture has something to do with it...

I have seen a combination of mold an little red ants devour a piece of
chipboard -- the laminated kind with a thin layer of melamine on either
side. This was older material, the kind likely to contain formaldehyde.
The damage went to about 40 cm from the edge. I'd have wagered against
that ever happening, myself... It was damp for a long time, though.

Adjacent timber was eaten away until only the thinnest and toughest
strands of wood remained, rather like a forest of uncooked spaghetti.

Thomas Prufer