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Door handles, elevator buttons and even touch screens can stop transmitting the new coronavirus due to an adhesive plastic developed in Brazil, which can inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in minutes per contact.
According to a study published Tuesday, which showed that the material in question, made of polyethylene and with microparticles of silver and silica (silicon oxide) in its structure, proved to be capable of eliminating 99.84% of the particles of the new virus after two minutes of contact.
Launched by the Promaflex company, specialized in the production of this type of film, the material was developed by the Nanox company with the support of the innovative research program for small companies of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).
Technical standards that measure antiviral activity in plastics and other non-porous surfaces state that the material must confirm this action in at least four hours.
The tests that followed the ISO 21702: 2019 standard, carried out in the level three biosafety laboratory (NB3) of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of São Paulo, showed that the material developed can eliminate the virus much faster.
“The plastic film with the additive proved to be capable of achieving this objective in a much shorter time and the viricidal action increased over time,” said Lucio Freitas Junior, a researcher at the institute, quoted in a statement released by FAPESP.
For the study, samples of materials with and without silver and silica microparticles incorporated into the structure were used, which were kept in direct contact with SARS-CoV-2 at different time intervals.
After the stipulated deadlines, the new coronavirus present in the samples of the material was collected and contacted with Vero cells -type of cell line used in microbiological cultures- to evaluate the contagion and multiplication capacity after exposure to the adhesive plastic .
The results indicated a nearly 100% reduction in the copies of SARS-CoV-2 that were in contact with samples of the adhesive plastic after two minutes of exposure to the material.
“As silver and silica microparticles are added to the plastic mass during production, the antimicrobial action is maintained throughout the useful life of the material,” said Luiz Gustavo Pagotto Simões, director of Nanox.
The manufacturer of the plastic with the additive, however, recommends its use for up to three months, to avoid wear of the material by excessive contact.
The cling film is the second plastic material with silver and silica microparticles marketed by Nanox, which developed a reusable mask made with a flexible plastic and the additive applied to its surface.
Nanox has also applied silver and silica microparticles to fabrics for the development of anti-covid-19 garments.
In fabrics, the microparticles of silver and silica are impregnated on the surface through a process of dipping, followed by drying and fixing, called “pad-dry-cure”.
Brazil is the Portuguese-speaking country most affected by the pandemic and one of the most affected in the world, accounting for the second number of deaths (more than 4.3 million cases and 132,006 deaths), after the United States of America.
The covid-19 pandemic has already claimed at least 929,391 deaths and more than 29.3 million cases of infection in 196 countries and territories, according to a report by the French agency AFP.
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