Welcome
 HEALTH PROTECTIVE TEXTILES: BRIDGING
THE DISPOSABLE/REUSABLE DIVIDE
Disposable and reusable textiles are two competing
materials employed in health care facilities. Both
serve primarily to protect the healthcare worker and
patients from pathogens, but with different environmental
and social impacts and consumer acceptance. The intense
political and scientific dispute over which type of
the product is better has led this multidisciplinary
research team to focus on the materials uses, new technologies,
and the impact of biologically protective textiles
in the environment. We will investigate the physical,
chemical, sociological, economic, occupational, and
environmental impact of disposable and reusable drapes
and bed linens in healthcare facilities and other contexts.
The use of environmental friendly materials and operations
together with incorporation of antibacterial functions
on the materials will significantly increase the protection
against infectious diseases and dramatically reduce
wastes produced by the use of both textiles.
The research results will help to:
| 1. |
Bridge the divide between nonwoven and woven fabrics, the materials used in making disposable and
reusable protective textiles. |
| 2. |
Promote the use of green materials and technology. |
| 3. |
Enhance the textile industry's ability to be more competitive in producing environmentally friendly
functional textiles for healthcare workers. |
| 4. |
Increase the life cycle assessment and protective performance of the nonwoven and woven types of products. |
| 5. |
Educate healthcare workers, patients, and the public. Further, we see numerous possibilities to apply
results in other institutional context, such as biological and chemical protective clothing for first responders,
farm workers, and industrial workers alike. We have conducted surveys of hospital administrators and
healthcare worker regarding their attitudes toward regular medical textiles and materials that are biocidal. |
The project combines Gang
Sun's expertise
in Textile Chemistry with Social Psychologist in Clothing Susan
Kaiser, Textile and Marketing and Cultural Psychologist Margaret
Rucker (University
of California, Davis),
Public Health and
Industrial Hygienist Mark
Nicas (University
of California, Berkeley), Environmental Health Scientist,
and Life-Cycle Assessment Michael
Overcash (North Carolina
State University), and Textile Engineer Lu
Wang (Donghua
University, China).
This project is funded by the following grant:
The National Science Foundation Biocomplexity (Material
Use) Program
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