1.1 Purpose
The purpose of this fungus test is to assess the susceptibility of materials to fungal growth. The primary objectives of the fungus test are to determine:
- a. If the materials or the assembled combination of same, will support fungal growth, and where possible, identify dominant species present.
- b. How rapidly fungus will grow on the materiel.
- c. How fungus may affect the materiel, its mission, and its safety for use following the growth of fungus on the materiel.
- d. If the materiel can be stored effectively in a field environment.
- e. If there are simple cleaning processes.
1.2 Application
Since microbial deterioration is a function of temperature and humidity, and is an inseparable condition of the a hot, humid environment and the mid-latitudes tropics, consider it in the design of all standard, general-purpose materiel (from paragraph 6.1, reference a). This method is used to determine if fungal growth will occur and, if so, how it may degrade/impact the use of the materiel.
NOTES: 1. This test procedure and the accompanying preparation and post-test analysis involve highly- specialized techniques and potentially-hazardous organisms. Use only technically-qualified personnel (e.g., microbiologists, trained technicians) to perform the test.
- Although the basic (documented) resistance of materials to fungal growth (Annex B) is helpful in the design of new materiel, it has shown to be unreliable in determining the fungal susceptibility of complex materials. The use of testing by analysis is discouraged. The physical structure of combined materials and the possible contamination of resistant materials during manufacture are beyond the purview of analysis, and necessitate laboratory or natural environment tests to verify the resistance of the assembled materials to fungal growth.
1.3 Limitations
This test is designed to obtain data on the susceptibility of materiel. This method is not intended for but may be used to test basic materials since various other test procedures, including pure culture, mixed culture, and plate testing are available.