The treated fabric grabs the chlorine, which then kills the germs. Because they must be washed in chlorine beach, the socks only come in white. Sun is working on a new version that could be washed in regular detergent 20 times before it would have to be recharged with a bleach bath. While Sun is pleased the university's runners are more pleasant to be around after a meet, his goal isn't a line of inoffensive athletic wear. He's more concerned with preventing infections passed on in hospitals.
Textile materials are often carriers of disease passed from doctor to patient.
But if the bacteria, fungus or virus landed first on a lab coat, curtain or sheet treated with the antimicrobial chemical, the chlorine halamines would kill it before it reached a patient, cutting the infection rate, he said. Hospital scrubs are already washed in chlorine bleach to sterilize them, which would recharge his medical garbs, Sun said. Medical Possibilities Dr. Jon Rosenberg, an infectious disease specialist for the state Department of Health Services' communicable disease unit, said he hasn't seen studies that link health-care workers' clothing to the transmission of disease. It's a major source of interest, but it's very difficult to study what role gowns play in transmission of bacteria. Studies have shown the biggest vehicle for passing on disease is through hands, Rosenberg said.