University of Mexico (UNAM) developed a facemask that inactivates the SARS-CoV-2 virus

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The material with which it was made, registered as SakCu, has antiviral and antibacterial properties and inactivates the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

A team from the Materials Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), led by Dr. Sandra Rodil, developed an antimicrobial mask that inactivates the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19.

The material with which this mask was created was registered as SakCu, a name that combines the Mayan word Sak that means silver and Cu, initials for copper, metals, which according to the researcher Rodil, are biocides, that is, they have properties antiviral, antibacterial and even antifungal, as published by the UNAM Gazette.

This mask was developed by the UNAM with the support of the Secretariat of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation of Mexico City, according to the university publication.

“In collaboration with the Hospital Juárez de México, the team from the National University demonstrated that the silver and copper nanolayer inactivates SARS-CoV-2. Drops with the virus taken from Covid-19 positive patients were placed on the silver-copper film deposited in polypropylene and it was observed that, depending on the viral concentration, if it was high, the virus disappeared by more than 80 percent in a few eight hours and if the viral load was low, in two hours none of the virus RNA was detected. Upon contact with the silver-copper nanolayer, the SARS-CoV-2 membrane breaks, and its RNA is damaged ”, explained the UNAM Gazette.

Cubrebocas UNAM COVID-19 Coronavirus Foto

According to the publication, the research team carried out cytotoxicity tests on the surface of the polypropylene with a silver-copper deposit to rule out risks in people who use this mask, since it will have direct contact with the skin, in the same way, measured the effect of the silver-copper nanolayer on the viability of abundant cells in the skin, and the result was that this mask does not cause any cytotoxic effect or risk.

Already with these tests that demonstrated its antiviral power and zero cytotoxic risk, the specialists made the mask of natural fabrics and that it can also be reused, as a measure to take care of the environment.

Thus, this mask has an outer and inner layer made of cotton with an intermediate filter layer of polypropylene coated with SakCu.

According to the publication, this mask can be washed up to 10 times without losing its biocidal effects.

Source: adn40.mx, noticieros.televisa.com

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