Microbial Deterioration of Materials

Microbial Deterioration of Materials

	Microbial Deterioration of Materials - The term materials, in the sense in which it is used here, refers to all products other than foodstuffs, paper, wood, paint, rubber, textiles, metals, etc. The economic importance, of microorganisms is nowhere more dramatically seen than in the consideration of their role in the deterioration of materials.
This represents a loss running into several billions of dollars annually. Microbial deterioration is exceeded only by the corrosion of metals. The loss would have been much larger were it not for the microorganism control practices carried out, by many industries. In the following paragraphs the microbiological problems in a few important industries are discussed