Pepito Julnar Evangelista, Prabhakaran Jayachandran Vavolil, Bheeman Dinesh Kada Peela, Sah Pankaj, Villarias Aldwin Platero, Hussain Shaik Althaf, Gangireddygari Venkata Subba Reddy, Al Adawi Afraa Said
Applied Biology Section Applied Sciences Department (APS), University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS), Higher College of Technology (HCT), PO Box 74, PC 133, Al-Khuwair, Muscat, Oman.
Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box - 2454, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
J King Saud Univ Sci. 2022 Jul;34(5):102125. doi: 10.1016/j.jksus.2022.102125. Epub 2022 May 27.
Surgical face masks have been recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nowadays wearing masks have become a norm and lifestyle around the globe. The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of developing masks loaded with analytical grade sodium chloride (NaCl), Iodized salts (IS) and Omani sea salt (OSS) with or without sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO).
The saline loaded masks were prepared by soaking the middle layer of the mask in 30% (w/v) saline solutions (NaCl, IS, OSS) with or without 10% NaHCO for 24 h followed by drying at room temperature. The prepared saline solutions and its combinations were evaluated for antimicrobial efficacy against the bacteria like coli, Proteus vulgaris, , and antifungal activity against the spp. and Rhizopus spp. by agar diffusion. Optical microscopy was employed to observe the formation of salt crystal in the mask material. Survivability of and was tested on the mask material loaded with 30% OSS + 10% NaHCO at particular time intervals.
The results showed that a combination of 30% OSS + 10% NaHCO exhibited promising antimicrobial activity against all the bacteria as well as Rhizopus spp. compared to the 30% IS + 10% NaHCO. Moreover, the middle layer of the mask loaded with saline solutions of 30% OSS + 10% NaHCO or 30% IS + 10% NaHCO have antibacterial activity, particularly for oral microbiome. On dehydration, the masks materials showed the presence of a significant amount of salt crystals. Survivability tests showed that both and were killed within 3 h of contact with the salt crystals on the mask materials.
A combination of 30% OSS + 10% NaHCO possessed significant antimicrobial activities on the tested microorganisms. Presence of a significant amount of salt crystals on dehydration of the saline loaded masks can be used as an effective protective barrier to infectious respiratory agents.
在新型冠状病毒肺炎大流行期间，世界卫生组织（WHO）推荐使用医用外科口罩。如今，戴口罩已成为全球的一种常态和生活方式。本研究旨在评估开发负载分析纯氯化钠（NaCl）、碘盐（IS）和阿曼海盐（OSS）且添加或不添加碳酸氢钠（NaHCO）的口罩的可行性。
将口罩中间层浸泡在含或不含10% NaHCO的30%（w/v）盐溶液（NaCl、IS、OSS）中24小时，然后在室温下干燥，制备负载盐水的口罩。通过琼脂扩散法评估制备的盐溶液及其组合对大肠杆菌、普通变形杆菌等细菌的抗菌效果，以及对白色念珠菌和根霉属的抗真菌活性。采用光学显微镜观察口罩材料中盐晶体的形成。在特定时间间隔对负载30% OSS + 10% NaHCO的口罩材料进行金黄色葡萄球菌和白色念珠菌的存活能力测试。
结果表明，与30% IS + 10% NaHCO相比，30% OSS + 10% NaHCO的组合对所有细菌以及根霉属均表现出有前景的抗菌活性。此外，负载30% OSS + 10% NaHCO或30% IS + 10% NaHCO盐溶液的口罩中间层具有抗菌活性，特别是对口腔微生物群。脱水后，口罩材料显示存在大量盐晶体。存活能力测试表明，金黄色葡萄球菌和白色念珠菌与口罩材料上的盐晶体接触3小时内均被杀死。
30% OSS + 10% NaHCO的组合对测试微生物具有显著的抗菌活性。负载盐水的口罩脱水时存在大量盐晶体，可作为对传染性呼吸道病原体的有效防护屏障。
