Fighting Hospital Infections with Crushed LCDs
The next generation of hospital cleaning products could come from a prominent feature in your living room. Researchers in the UK have managed to convert compounds commonly found in LCD television sets, into antimicrobials that can kill common germs and organisms found in hospitals.
Scientists at the York Green Chemistry Center of Excellence at the University Of York Department Of Chemistry have found that when PVA of LCD TVs is cooled, and then dehydrated with ethanol, it produces a high surface area mesophorous material. This material can be used to great effect in biomedicine. When the researchers added silver nanoparticles, it enhanced the material’s antimicrobial properties. The resulting material was found to be strong enough to attack bacteria.
These silver nanoparticles can be used in hospitals and other settings that see substantial microbial activity. The compound has been found to be effective at destroying organisms that are commonly found in hospitals, like Staphylococcus aureu and Escherichia coli. The researchers now plan to compare the dehydrated PVA substance with commercial cleaning compounds in order to determine the effectiveness of the substance in attacking germs. They will then move on to seek regulatory approval.
What makes this research even more intriguing is the fact that there will be no shortage of affordable raw material for these compounds. LCDs are expected to be the fastest-growing electronic waste in the Western world, and in Europe alone, it is estimated that approximately 2.5 billion LCDs are nearing the end of their life. That means there will be plenty of raw material to manufacture anti-bacterial compounds.
The Indiana medical malpractice lawyers at Theodoros and Rooth represent victims of misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, emergency room errors, surgical room errors and other forms of medical malpractice around Indiana.
