Influenza A viruses (IAV) and SARS-CoV-2 can spread via liquid droplets and aerosols. Face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) can act as barriers that prevent the spread of these viruses. However, IAV and SARS-CoV-2 are stable for hours on various materials, which makes frequent and correct disposal of these PPE important. Metal ions embedded into PPE may inactivate respiratory viruses, but confounding factors such as adsorption of viruses make measuring and optimizing the inactivation characteristics difficult. Here, we used polyamide 6.6 (PA66) fibers containing embedded zinc ions and systematically investigated if these fibers can adsorb and inactivate SARS-CoV-2 and IAV H1N1 when woven into a fabric. We found that our PA66-based fabric decreased the IAV H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2 titer by approximately 100-fold. Moreover, we found that the zinc content and the virus inactivating property of the fabric remained stable over 50 standardized washes. Overall, these results provide insights into the development of reusable PPE that offer protection against RNA virus spread.
Keywords: absorption; coronavirus; face mask; influenza; zinc.