In Germany, there are around three million buildings that are contaminated with the toxic wood preservatives lindane and pentachlorophenol (PCP). Pre-vious measures for minimizing contamination include insulating contaminated areas or disposing of treated wooden building materials as hazardous waste. However, these measures are neither sustainable nor cost-efficient. In the CycloPlasma project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP are developing a new type of process to remove these decades-old contaminants — in the air as well as in contaminated wooden structures — in a way that is residue-free, sustainable and does not pose a health risk. For this purpose, the scientists have combined an innovative adsorber material with plasma technology.