Antimicrobial Textiles – Evaluation of Their Effectiveness and Safety

Abstract

The number of biofunctional textiles with an antimicrobial activity has increased considerably over the last few years. Whilst in the past it was predominantly technical textiles which had antimicrobial finishes, in particular to protect against fungi, nowadays textiles worn close to the body have been developed for a variety of different applications as far as medical and hygienic tasks. Together with the increase in new antimicrobial fibre technologies and possibilities in the hygienic and medical applications, the demand for proper test systems to evaluate the effectiveness as well as the safety of antimicrobial textiles rose. With the aid of agar diffusion and suspension tests, it is possible to record qualitative and quantitative data on the in vitro 'degree of effectiveness' of antimicrobial textiles. Test systems based on testing the biocompatibility of medical devices are suitable to evaluate the safety of antimicrobial textiles.

Impact of Different Washing Conditions on the Release of Ag Species from Textiles

“…The cation and anion concentrations were measured with the Metrohm ion chromatograph (Herisau Metrohm AG) equipped with the MetroSep A Supp 5 column (for anions) or Metrosep C2 column (for cations). The HCO 3 -amount was calculated on the basis of alkalinity and pH.…”

“…The Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) are one of the most widely used nanometals. They are present in over 250 consumer products, including domestic devices (fridges, vacuum cleaners, air conditioning), paints and varnish, textiles/textiles and clothes (sportswear, T-shirts and socks), plastics, cosmetics and detergents, or medical products (surgical gowns, dressing bandages, catheters, infusion systems, medical textiles) [2][3][4].…”

Antibacterial Fibers Based on Cellulose and Chitosan

“…In this way, with direct comparing of the reference material with the treated sample, it is always possible to record the direct effect of antimicrobial treatment, because external factors (e.g. supply of nutrients) can be, to a large extent, excluded and, due to the characteristics of the sample and the reference materials, it can be assumed that any potential growth pattern will be the same [19].…”

Antibacterial Modification of Textiles Using Nanotechnology

“…A number of test methods have been developed to determine the efficacy of antimicrobial textiles [66]. These methods generally fall into two categories: the agar diffusion test and suspension test.…”

“…Before marketing, the textile products have to pass biocompatibility tests which involve three separate assays: cytotoxicity, sensitization and irritation. These assays are outside the scope of this chapter but are discussed elsewhere [66].…”