Face shield deactivates SARS-CoV-2, multi-resistant bacteria

Researchers from the Catholic University of Valencia (UCV) and Kyoto University have developed a face shield that deactivates SARS-CoV-2 and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in under a minute. Their work has been published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

As explained by Ángel Serrano-Aroca, principal researcher in UCV’s Biomaterials and Bioengineering Laboratory, the transparent materials used up until now in face shields protected “against microbial and bacterial infections caused by viruses or bacteria, including multi-resistant strains”; however, they are made “with components that do not have antimicrobial activity”, and only prevent direct contact between the person and the biological agent.

This means that a healthy person can become infected “if they come into contact with the contaminated surfaces of these materials”, Serrano-Aroca said. Thus, infected people who use these protective tools can “easily” transmit microbial infections, as such tools “do not deactivate the microbial load generated through breathing, sneezing or coughing”.

Taking this into account, UCV researchers manufactured a transparent face shield with intrinsic antimicrobial activity that protects the person and prevents infectious waste. According to Serrano-Aroca, “This is the first transparent face shield material capable of deactivating severe enveloped viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 in under a minute after coming into contact with the surface, as well as deactivating the golden staphylococcus bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) and Staphylococcus epidermis, both of which are resistant to meticillin (antibiotic)”.

The broad-spectrum, extra-protective compound material developed by the UCV laboratory is made out of polyethylene terephthalate, with a micrometric antimicrobial coating of benzalkonium chloride. It is affordable to manufacture and could be used for other facial protection tools, the researchers say, including glasses, helmets, plastic masks and the screens used in cars and counters.

The material would thus be “very useful” to tackle the current pandemic, according to Serrano-Aroca, and could “protect healthcare workers from infections caused by multi-resistant microorganisms such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria, both in developed and developing countries”.

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