Their objectives were to study all aspects of the growth of fungi on applied surface coatings and to develop a standard method of test. The desire was to produce a test which would allow the in-use fungicidal performance of paints to be evaluated in the laboratory. Panels were exposed at a number of outdoor sites and the growth compared with similar panels exposed in a laboratory test chamber. Close correlation was found between the two methods of test. As a result, the IBRG humidity chamber test was accepted as BS3900 Part G6.
Further work is planned on development of a rapid efficacy test method.
A similar process has been followed for the laboratory evaluation of paints intended to be resistant to algal growth. Field trials in which panels are being exposed at a number of external locations and the results compared with similar panels tested according to the IBRG laboratory method are currently taking place. The third IBRG Paints Working Group project has the objective of developing a laboratory test to enable comparisons of wet-state biocides in paints and to investigate the resistance of such products to bacterial infection. The group has just carried out a large statistically designed comparison, resulting in their internal publication of a Draft 5 Test Method. At specified periods after each inoculation the performance of the biocide is evaluated by determination of surviving organisms using traditional methods or proven electrochemical techniques, e.g. impedance measurement.