Engr.Zahedul Huque
DGM, Esquire Group, (Textile Division)
It is very transparent and agreed to all of you that after 2nd world war, this is the most disaster situation in the world. One to all unanimous that we are all fighting against a tiny germ which is still not specified–how to protect and prevent delicately. The whole world working together to out play the disease named Covid-19.It is needless to say that like others professionals in this battle –the textile technical and researchers are also playing a vital role, which seemed–not be focused too much. But their importance cannot be ignored. From mask to medical gown, personal protective equipment (PPE) and even casual dresses –we are protecting persons by using special type of finished fabric.
Right now we are only knowing that mask and gown or other PPE just protect ourselves but we have the clothe that also kill the virus as well. While Covid-19 coming in to fabric contact within 60-120 seconds—it will be killed or destroyed. This is a special textile chemical application on fabric surface.
As a textile technologist we have to know more details of the Covid-19 virus as well as our latest textile development so that we can meet onwards world clothing demand. Hoping we have a nice business in future if adopt this textile technology delicately.
Covid-19(Corona Virus Disease-19) is the name of disease and Virus name is SARS-CoV-2.The disease identified in 2019 from Wuhan state of China –that is why it is called Covid-19. It was named by the World Health Organization on January 12, 2020. Coronavirus or any virus belonging to the family Coronaviridae. Actually Virus is an infectious agent of small size and simple composition, containing one nucleic acid (DNA or RNA), can multiply only in living cells of animals, plants, or bacteria. Virus are mainly two type one is enveloped and another non-enveloped.
Coronaviruses have enveloped virions (virus particles) that measure approximately 120 nm (1 nm = 10−9 metre) in diameter. Club-shaped glycoprotein spikes in the envelope give the viruses a crown like, or coronal, appearance. The nucleocapsid, made up of a protein shell known as a capsid and containing the viral nucleic acids, is helical or tubular. The coronavirus genome consists of a single strand of positive-sense RNA (ribonucleic acid).
Infections and Transmissions & Symptoms:
The virus is reportedly spreading from person-to-person in many parts of China and in some other countries by interacting with ACE2 from mucous membrane of eye, mouth and nose. On Jan. 30, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified the first case of person-to-person spread in the United States.
In terms of how one would catch the virus, the CDC says that human coronaviruses are most commonly spread between an infected person and others via: Virus are mainly spread out by air borne or droplets. This corona Virus is spread out through droplets. The air (from viral particles from a cough or sneeze);
Close personal contact (touching or shaking hands); An object or surface with viral particles on it (then touching your mouth, nose or eyes before washing your hands); and rarely from fecal contamination.
Main symptoms are fever, fatigue, and dry cough; Nasal congestion, runny nose and other upper respiratory symptoms are rare; Approximately half of the patients experienced dyspnea after one week, and the severe cases progressed rapidly to acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, difficult to correct metabolic acidosis, and coagulopathy.
It is worth noting that in the course of severe and critically ill patients, there can be moderate to low fever, even without obvious fever. Some patients have mild onset symptoms and no fever. They usually recover after 1 week. Most patients have a good prognosis, and a few patients are critically ill and even die.
Other common symptoms include cough, loss of appetite, fatigue, shortness of breath, sputum production, and muscle and joint pains. Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea have been observed in varying percentages. Less common symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, or sore throat.
Some cases in China initially presented with only chest tightness and palpitations.
How to Disinfectants:
World Health Organization (WHO) and Directorate General Health Services (DGHS) suggest alternatives. Following the coronavirus pandemic citizens are now aware of disinfecting their surroundings with hypochlorite mixed water solutions.But health and chemical experts however warned that the solution will cause harm to external parts of the human body.
World Health Organization (WHO) and DGHS have given guidelines to make a solution to disinfect surroundings. However, the solution is harmful for the human body, especially the eyes and face. After the coronavirus outbreak, many city corporations used hypochlorite solutions to disinfect city streets. Grocery shops, government offices, local organizations, and people also used the solution to disinfect their places. However, experts do not recommend the solution as it harms the eyes including different parts of the human body. On April 16, the DGHS issued a circular to all civil surgeons instructing not to use bleaching powder solutions for disinfecting people. “This type of disinfectant is not statutory as per WHO guideline. DGHS also follows the WHO guideline,” the circular added.
Prof Tofail Ahmed Chowdhury, dean of Science Faculty at Dhaka University, said bleaching powder solution can cause harm to external parts of the human body, especially for those people with allergies.
“If anybody needs to go outside, I suggest using normal soap to wash their hands and external body,” he said.As per the recommended guideline, properly made bleaching powder solution can be used as disinfectant. But whether it would be harmful or not depends on the ratio of active chlorine, Tofail added.
DGHS’s procedure to make disinfectant—
The DGHS has made a poster where it suggested a procedure to make disinfectants. It suggested using strong (0.5%) chlorine solution to clean and disinfect surfaces, objects, and body fluid spills.
It also said to make a new strong (0.5%) chlorine solution every day and throw away any leftover solution from the day before.The poster suggested making sure a person is wearing extended Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) while preparing the solution.
The preparation includes adding 10 tablespoons of HTH (70% chlorine) to 20 liters of water in a bucket and stirring well for 10 seconds, or until the HTH gets dissolved. After that, 30 minutes should pass before using the solution.
The DGHS also suggested labeling the solution bucket with “Strong (0.5%) Chlorine Solution – Cleaning,” cover bucket with a lid and storing it in shade with no direct sunlight.
How to Protect Yourself from Coronavirus:
Soap and water: Soap and water are your first line of defense to remove the virus from surfaces. Soap interferes with the fats in the virus shell and lift the virus from surfaces and this is then rinsed off by water. Of course, you also need to wash your hands when you come in from the shops and wash your food as normal.
Bleaching Powder:
The active ingredient in bleach – sodium hypochlorite – is very effective at killing the virus. Make sure you leave the bleach to work for 10-15 minutes then give the surface a wipe with a clean cloth. The bleach works by destroying the protein and what’s known as the ribonucleic acid (RNA) of the virus – this is the substance that gives the blueprint for making more virus particles when you become infected. Be sure to use the bleach as directed on the bottle.
Surgical spirit: Surgical spirit is mostly made up of the alcohol ethanol. Ethanol has been shown to kill coronaviruses in as little as 30 seconds. Like bleach, the alcohol destroys the protein and RNA that the virus is made up of. Moisten a cloth with some neat surgical spirit and rub it over a surface. This will evaporate and you will not need to wipe it off.
Surface wipes: The active ingredient in surface wipes is an antiseptic – usually chloride. The wipes work by physically removing germs through the pressure you apply when you use them, and the germs then attach to the wipe.
They also leave a layer of the antiseptic on the surface that works to kill germs. The antiseptic works well on bacteria as well as on coronaviruses that infect mice and dogs – but it seems to make no difference to the spread of human coronavirus.
Antiseptics work by disrupting the fats in pathogen cells, but SARS-CoV-2 does not contain many fats. So far, there is no evidence that antiseptics can kill human coronaviruses.
Hand Sanitizers: A word of warning though about hand sanitizers. The main ingredient in hand sanitizers that will kill SARS-CoV-2 is ethanol, the alcohol in surgical spirit. But its concentration in the sanitizer is very important – it has to be over 70 percent or it will not kill the virus effectively.
One thing you can also do is make sure you air out the spaces you are spending time in regularly. An infected person will produce thousands of tiny droplets which contain the virus every time they cough.
SARS-CoV-2 can survive in the air for up to three hours. So by opening the window, you can remove and disperse the droplets and reduce the amount of virus in the air – which will reduce the risk of infection for others. We are living in uncertain times but it’s reassuring to know that we have some weapons we can use to fight COVID-19 in our homes.
The bottom line: A person on an average 23 times per hour touches his/her mouth/nose/eyes by hand.So hand wash time to time is very important indeed.keep washing your hands, use 70 percent hand sanitizer, dust off the bleach and open a window to let in the spring air.
Textile Technical/Researchers—what role they can play:
These all above are good to hear and a kind of protection or prevention from the Virus personally for the time being. Any sorts of battle you need convenient dress to fight against the enemy whether against germ like corona virus you need special type of garment. As the war is not shorter version and still uncertain how many days will prolong—so for the survival of economy and survival of mankind we need a sustainable garment to continue our world.
We are happy to inform you that already textile researchers developed some innovative technology that will not protect you but also kill the virus. Except PPE, It is also possible on our daily casual garment where would be convenient for us to continue our daily affairs.
The important thing is the garment also re-useable after laundry which is eco-friendly a kind of subject to present PPE.
The basic talk of Covid-19 is—it is spread out by droplets getting in to closer of persons entered through nose, eyes & mouth. That is why we are using mask to protect it so that not getting in to. But somehow it may have on fabric surface, once any scope of your relax –enter in to. So this type of Mask/Medical gown or what so ever is eventually not a clear protection.
But the recent development of textile chemicals which applied on fabric surface –if any virus come in to fabric contact will be destroyed few seconds. That means it will protect you as well as kill the virus where there is no possibility of enter even after any mistake/relax mood a human being..
There are two types of Textile finishing chemicals application which will do the killing of virus –one is silver-ion and another is Quantum-ion technology.
Some of the world class Textile Chemicals Company develop this innovation eg. DuPont-USA, Product name-Silvadur 930, HeiQ & CHT-Switzerland, Product Name- HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03, Dymatic-from China, Product name-Bactmatic DM-3015N and so on.
All those products function are finally approved by the world renowned testing body.
I have just given below the technical clarification of the products –how it works on fabric surface.
Silver Ion technology:
The corona pandemic continues to put a strain on health systems around the globe. Many places lack of effective textile protective kit among others for their medical personnel.
HeiQ, a Swiss specialty chemicals company, has developed antiviral and antibacterial protective kit that is quickly effective against Coronaviruses (229E), as confirmed in wide-ranging studies.
In cooperation with HeiQ, the CHT Group is now supplying this technology to the market to help decrease the global shortage in protective wear.
A wide number of studies have proven that viruses and bacteria can remain active on textile surfaces for a longer period. The SARS-COV-2 virus, which causes the Covid-19 disease, can stay active on a textile for up to two days and therefore be infectious. Shortages in textile protective kit create a high risk for medical personnel who are in contact with Covid-19 patients: often, doctors and nurses cannot change their protective masks and clothing as frequently as would be necessary in order to adhere to hygiene rules and to prevent the spreading of the virus.
The HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 that has been developed by HeiQ is a new technology that is also effective against Coronaviruses (229E) thanks to its antibacterial and antiviral properties. Comprehensive studies have demonstrated the kit’s effectiveness. A combination of silver salts with a vesicle technology deactivates bacteria and viruses on textile surfaces within a few minutes and renders the bacteria and viruses harmless. Textiles equipped in this way reduce the rate of infection by 99.99 percent, which stops the transmission and the spread of bacteria and viruses through textiles.
Viroblock can be used on all types of fibers – not only for protective kit and masks, but also for work clothing, bed linen, towels and home textiles. The kit is wash-resistant and still highly effective after 30 standard wash processes. Thanks to the cooperation of HeiQ with CHT Group, this essential technology can now reach the market quickly and in a high quality to help medical personnel in their fight against Covid-19.
Ralf Kattanek, Group Vice President Textiles of CHT Group, believes that CHT’s international profile allows CHT to play a key role in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic:
“Due to our fast introduction of the HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03, we are making a significant contribution to lessening the impact of the Corona pandemic. We continue to expect an increase in demand for protective clothing and plan to work closely with textile companies, brands and retailers around the world to jointly overcome this crisis.”
Another Product is Bacmatic DM-3015N from Dymatic company,China which works as below-
Normally Anti-virus test value is measured as below. There are several test method and mostly used is ISO-18184.
Quantum Ion Technology:
Textile products:
Many people around the world are wearing face masks to guard themselves against coronavirus. While there’s some controversy about whether masks work or not, the idea is they keep germs away from your nose and mouth. They are also great to prevent viruses from a sick person from contaminating things around them. The problem is, when not worn correctly, the germs get to all the wrong places anyway. Now, a Canadian scientist has solved this issue by creating a coating for masks that kills viruses within minutes.
The man behind the idea is assistant Professor Hyo-Jick Choi, a biomedical engineer based out of the University of Alberta. He realized that there are two main problems with using surgical masks for protection against COVID-19.
One: Most masks can only capture large airborne virus-laden water droplets.
Two: The mask may catch the virus and stop it from entering your nose or mouth, but it doesn’t kill the virus. Meaning, when the wearer removes the mask, the virus is transferred onto their fingers and then other commonly-touched surfaces.
So, Choi’s team designed a virus-killing coating that can be applied to the exterior of any mask. The material is made up of mostly two salts: potassium chloride and sodium chloride. These salts dissolve when virus-laden water droplets of any size come into contact with them and crystalize as the water evaporates. When this happens, the sharp edges of the crystals puncture any viruses present, killing them. We’ve tested our system on three different influenza viruses and have shown that the virus on the surface of a coated contaminated mask is inactive within five minutes and completely destroyed within 30 minutes. I believe that technology should be equally effective against coronavirus.
The university is working with Choi now to find corporate partners that can commercialize the coating. They hope to have a product on the market within a year to a year and a half. Indeed, that feels like a long time to wait, particularly since we need such a coating on masks now to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. But the invention works for any virus so it will always be useful. For now, Choi stresses that people wearing masks should not touch the filtration material ever, never store the mask in exposed areas, dispose of it immediately after use, and always wash their hands before and after handling.
Generally, N95 masks are the US standards for respirator masks; KN95 masks are the Chinese standards for masks. These are the requirements that the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health requires manufacturers to meet in order to label their masks as N95s. Despite the long list of differences, the two masks are equivalent or nearly equivalent on the features that most people care about. Besides some other mask such as FFP2 from Europe, P2 from Australia, KMOEL from South Korea and DS from Japan which are almost similar quality.
Finally, as of today on 15th May, in the world, the Covid-19 affected people are almost 4.5 million where deaths are significant no of 0.30 million more. The global loss range almost 6—9 trillion and as per WHO another bad news is –In Africa it may be affected 20 crores people on coming days. As the disease increases gradually then multiply rapidly and fall down gradually so there is a huge time consuming issue almost 3-6 months. So we need to take pragmatic steps to prevent & protect that pandemic sitting all concerned professionals under one roof and has to be taken corrective measures not sporadically which is very important right now.
References:
Lena Ciric, Associate Professor,
Environmental Engineering, UCL.
Textile network,
Different TDS & Internet.
