A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE CONCENTRATIONS OF TCMTB BASED FUNGICIDES IN LEATHER AND THEIR EFFECT ON MOULD RESISTANCE

Abstract

TCMTB (2-(thiocyanomethylthio)-benzothiazole), as a broad spectrum antifungal agent, has found a wide spread usage in processing of pickled, wet-blue and crust leathers and became one of the most used fungicides in leather although it suffered some drawbacks related to its toxicity and handling hazards. Monitoring TCMTB usage and the amounts in leather while keeping the antifungal effectiveness has become a necessity. In this study; 5 different TCMTB based fungicides with similar concentrations sold under different trade names were applied to wet-blue sheep skins. Then the leathers and baths were evaluated for their TCMTB content by using UV Spectrophotometer and HPLC methods to determine the concentration of the active content in fungicides and residue in leather. Meanwhile the effect of the biocides on the fungal resistance of leathers was tested by the use of two methods: tropical chamber and ASTM D4576.

Keywords

• tcmtb
• biocide
• fungicide
• hplc
• uv spectrophotometer
• fungal resistance