Paints are great carriers of microbes because several factors act on it. Bacterial and fungal growth in painted surfaces and unused paints were studied. Bacteria isolated from these paints were Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Micrococcus sp. and Serratia sp. while fungi isolated were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Rhodotorula sp and Aspergillus flavus. Emulsion paints had total viable counts ranging from 0 to 5.4 x 105, its optical density ranged from 0 to 4.4 and reduction in pH was from 8.5 to 4.8. While for the gloss paints, total viable counts were from 0 to 6.2 x 105, its optical density was from 0.46 to 5.6 and its pH reduced from 9.1 to 5.6. Statistical analysis indicated that there was a significant difference (p>0.05) in the growth of microorganisms between painted surfaces and unused paints and between emulsion and gloss paints. Combined effects of microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) had a greater effect on paints than either of them reaching individually. Microorganisms utilized painted surfaces more than unused paints. Temperature is one of the environmental factors that promote paint degradation. The use of biocides and reduction of contamination by microorganisms during the production of paints should be compulsory to ensure that paints are safe from microbial attacks. This research compares microbial growth between gloss and emulsion paints.

Keywords:
Paints, unused, used, painted surfaces, bacteria, fungi.