Posted 20/08/2025

The Australian company Source Certain can tell where wood has grown by looking at quirks in its atomic structure. Different growing regions give rise to different isotopes, which are atoms with an unusual number of neutrons. “It’s like an intrinsic bar code,” said Cameron Scadding, the company’s founder. “What’s imprinted is a direct reflection of where it’s grown.”

Surveying over 3,000 timber samples from the British construction industry, Scadding’s team found that more than 10 per cent were either of a different origin or species than described by their seller. Of those of a different origin, three quarters were from Russia.

Read the full article by Ben Cooke here.