Canadian-made antimicrobial mask coating found to deactivate 99% of the virus that causes COVID-19

Scientists working in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto tested a new coating for medical masks and found that it deactivated more than 99 per cent of SARS-CoV-2 within minutes. Developed by Quebec company 13 BioMedical Inc., the coating material could protect healthcare or other frontline workers who are at risk when they touch or adjust their face masks.

“A big challenge for most people in the population who usually never wear surgical masks is comfort and fit. Because of this, people tend to be constantly adjusting their masks,” said lead scientist Professor Scott Gray-Owen. “So they’re either contaminating their hands or, if their hands are contaminated, they’re contaminating a mask that’s close to their face and maybe even depositing the virus there, which they might then inhale.”

When tested at U of T’s CL3 lab, one of the first places in Canada where the virus was being propagated, no infectious viruses could be recovered from masks with the antimicrobial coating. The Toronto lab is mainly a research facility, but took on this product testing because of the virus-curbing potential and 13 BioMedical’s commitment to supplying maks to the Canadian market.

Source: U of T News