Plastic kills viruses like Covid

[calendria]

 


 


https://news.yahoo.com/self-sterilising-plastic-kills-viruses-001241196.html

Scientists have developed a virus-killing plastic that could make it harder for bugs, including Covid, to spread in hospitals and care homes.

The team at Queen's University Belfast say their plastic film is cheap and could be fashioned into protective gear such as aprons.

It works by reacting with light to release chemicals that break the virus.

The study showed it could kill viruses by the million, even in tough species which linger on clothes and surfaces.

The research was accelerated as part of the UK's response to the Covid pandemic.

Studies had shown the Covid virus was able to survive for up to 72 hours on some surfaces, but that is nothing compared to sturdier species. Norovirus - known as the winter vomiting bug - can survive outside the body for two weeks while waiting for somebody new to infect.

The team of chemists and virologists investigated self-sterilising materials that reduce the risk of contaminated surfaces spreading infections.

The idea is to make a material so hostile to a virus that it cannot survive there. The metal copper has been shown to kill microbes on contact, but is not very flexible.

So the researchers used thin sheets of plastic that contained nanoparticles of titanium dioxide. These react with ultraviolet light - even the tiny amount released from a fluorescent bulb - to release molecules called reactive oxygen species.

These are just itching to get involved in any chemical reaction. They react with the virus's genetic material, the proteins it uses to invade our body and the fatty sphere that holds it all together. The end result is a dead and useless virus.

"This is the first time that anything like this has been developed," said Prof Andrew Mills, from the university's chemistry department.

He added: "This film could replace many of the disposable plastic films used in the healthcare industry as it has the added value of being self-sterilising at no real extra cost."

The material was tested in the laboratory against four types of virus - two influenzas, the Covid virus and a picornavirus,

Story continues:

https://news.yahoo.com/self-sterilising-plastic-kills-viruses-001241196.html

[dsawan]

bring it on

[ccandpam]

That is great to hear. I can not wait until they start using this new idea.

[plennis]

Very interesting. 

[dreamyxo]

That's good.  Hope it comes out quickly.

[linderlizzie]

And how do we know what it does to our bodies as it's attacking the COVID virus?  I'm extremely wary.

I'm surprised that it did not occur to anyone else.

I would rather deal with the COVID if I contracted it than deal with another unknown quantity from God knows where. 

[mrisha]

I won't believe this until I see it and it works on individuals they practice on.