Fungus Resistant Rubber Gasket

Stockwell Elastomerics offers silicone rubber for gasket applications requiring fungus resistance. Most silicone formulations do not have any fungus inhibitor added since silicone is inherently fungus resistant. Fungus feeds on organic matter, and since silicone is an inorganic polymer it does not support the growth of fungus.

There is a critical caveat for fungus resistance in gaskets – while the silicone does not support the growth of fungus, a dirty surface can. If the surface of a silicone sheet or any gasketing material is not clean, the surface contamination can create an environment where fungus can grow. The Mil-STD 810 specification for testing refers to this as an indirect attack where metabolic waste products produced by fungus can have an adverse affect in the device. To ensure there are no detrimental effects of an indirect attack, special third party testing is required.