ABSTRACT
Several protective coatings enhanced by antimicrobial agents and/or pigments were considered for the wooden toy market: water-based matte varnish, an ultra-hygiene water-based matte varnish (WBV-UH), a polyurethane matte varnish (PUV), and an ultra-hygiene antiviral polyurethane matte varnish (PUV-UH), as well as a water-based dye (WBV 5%K), an ultra-hygiene water-based dye (WBV-UH 5%K), a polyurethane dye (PUV 5%K), and an ultra-hygiene polyurethane dye (PUV-UH 5%K), which contain 5% red nano-pigment (K). By utilizing 7 kinds of bacteria and 2 types of yeast that are commonly detected in routine, daily settings, the efficacy of the different protective coatings on wooden toy surface was investigated. The antibacterial and antimicrobial activities of the tested dye samples were based on the agar-well diffusion method. Ultimately, the study found that the addition of antimicrobial agents to several different protective coatings and dyes resulted in the presence of antimicrobial activity vs. the lack thereof with protective coatings and dyes alone. Additionally, some of the dyes with added antimicrobial agents were found to be effective against biofilm formation. Overall, the addition of pigment into the coating, alongside the addition of antimicrobial agents, proved to be highly effective in inhibiting growth and spread of microorganisms on wooden toy surface.