Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Virginia Tech Applies Antimicrobial System to Athletics Facility

Filed under: Public Health

Ringworm, be gone! Hopefully. Virginia Tech. has decided to apply the Sports Antimicrobial System (SAS) from SportCoatings to its athletic facilities. Not surprisingly, killing bacteria and fungi had an immediate positive result:

"You could tell it worked quickly. Within 24-hours of the application it erased the typical locker room scent. It brought a noticeable freshness to our facilities" said Denie Marie, Facilities Manager of Rector Field House.

So, is this basically coating everything with a layer of deadly chemicals? No:

The nano-technology powering SAS is the AEGIS Microbe Shield(R) which has been safely used in consumer goods ranging from shoes to diapers and in medical applications from clean rooms to surgical dressings for more than 30 years. Registered with the EPA, it imparts an invisible layer of antimicrobial protection that will not leach any chemicals or heavy metals into the environment and will not rub off onto a player's skin.

"What makes the AEGIS Microbe Shield unique is that it functions through a physical mode-of-action versus the chemical poisoning associated with traditional antimicrobials," said Curtis White, Chairman and CEO of AEGIS. "This physical mode-of-action prevents microbes from adapting to the shield so there is no ability for 'super bugs' to develop resistance."

Nanotechnology makes everything better. White's claim that microbes could never adapt to be able to adhere to their coating is a little over-selling it, though. Even so, they stand behind their product:

Extensive warranties and service agreements are available on SAS applications to ensure the active antimicrobial layer remains intact.

Looks like we'll have to find a replacement phrase for "it smells like a locker room in here."

The press release...

More from Coatings Specialist Group (Be prepared for lots of Flash and .pdf's in new windows)

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