Ranking up: bio-positive anti-odour tech
Specialist developer of antibacterial plastic technology Parx Materials is taking an anti-silver approach to antimicrobial, odour-free materials, in an effort to keep silver and silver ions out of the water cycle.
The Dutch-Italian company has said it is concerned about silver leaching, particularly during the laundry process, quoting a 2018 report from the Swedish Water & Wastewater Association, which found silver to “pose a significant threat to the wealth of life in the sediments of our lakes and seas”.
In response, Parx Materials has used its patented Saniconcentrate technology to produce a pair of socks enriched with zinc in ionic form, as opposed to metallic or nanoparticle form, meaning that the element is made “intrinsic” to the polymer and will not migrate or release. (Saniconcentrates allow for the creation of polymers with increased antiseptic, antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, the company states on its website.)
Zinc was identified as an element of “utmost biological importance”, owing to its vitality to the human immune system, as well as to the growth and development of plants. It is also skin-positive, in that it naturally defends the skin from “bacteria and viruses”, Parx Materials states.
So much so, “some” of the socks’ 500 test participants have been wearing their pair for between 20 and 30 days in a row, without washing - reporting back that their Parx Materials socks were “still not stinking”. Moreover, 80 of the participants who reported having the Beriberi skin condition (and completed the test) apparently noticed an “improved” in foot appearance after wearing their socks for at least 15 days.
The socks are composed of both polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) yarns, with the PP yarns being made with 3% PEU-PP0016 Saniconcentrate (specification: 55D/48F) and the PET yarns being fabricated with 3% PEU-PE0018 Saniconcentrate (specification: 1.65D, 38mm).
