Significance and Use
6.1 The environmental chamber method is an accelerated test for determining the resistance of wet blue to the growth of fungi, the causal agent of mold. See Test Method D3273.3,4
6.2 The environmental chamber method is useful in estimating the performance of fungicides and should assist in the prediction of storage time before fungal growth begins.
6.3 The environmental chamber method duplicates the natural environment in which wet blue is inoculated with fungal spores and subsequently disfigured or discolored by fungi.
6.4 The environmental chamber method measures the resistance of the treated wet blue to the germination of spores and subsequent vegetative growth that spreads over the surface of a comparatively large wet blue specimen over a period of four weeks.
6.5 The environmental chamber can be kept inoculated with fungi representative of those found in tanneries by adding samples of wet blue with fungal growth currently operating tanneries.
6.6 Control specimens of wet blue without fungicide treatment can be added to the chamber periodically to increase levels of fungal growth in the chamber.
6.7 Leaching of fungicide from the test specimen into the agar often causes a zone of inhibition of fungal growth in the Petri dish test, but in the environmental chamber any leaching of fungicide from the test specimen drips into the water contained in the chamber and thus does not cause the types of false readings observed in the Petri dish test.
Scope
1.1 This environmental chamber method measures the resistance of the treated wet blue to the germination of spores and subsequent vegetative growth over a period of four weeks. The test method is useful in estimating the performance of fungicides and should assist in the prediction of storage time of wet blue before fungal growth begins. The apparatus is designed so it can be easily built or obtained by any interested party and duplicate the natural environment in which wet blue is inoculated with fungal spores. Spores that germinate on untreated or treated wet blue can produce fungal growth, resulting in disfigurement or discoloration, or both, of the wet blue.
1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.
1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
