1999 - Volume 2 - Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics

Emerging Technology
can have a very different ability for blocking the harmful effects of the sun.
Some apparel companies have focused on this market niche and offer a variety of clothing claimed to
provide considerable protection. Such apparel generally is quite expensive, however, and the consumer is
left to gauge whether the additional expense is worth the claimed protection.
At least one company in Israel has developed a finish technology which it claims provides the perfect
solution to UV protection. As can be expected, the major focus of this effort has been on fashionable
apparel fabrics, but there are indications that this technology will be extended to nonwoven structures as
well.
The process developed by Golden Guard Technologies Limited apparently involves the formation of a
strong, flexible, breathable and translucent polyurethane finish that incorporates UV absorbers and
attenuators. It is claimed that fabrics that transmit nearly 50% of the UV light before treatment, show a
transmission of only 2-4% after treatment. The claims also indicate the finish results in a minimal impact
on the moisture-vapor transmission rate and on the fabric hand and drape. This protection is unaffected
by moisture, perspiration and machine washing, and is durable to abrasion, along with wear and tear,
according to the developers (Golden Guard Technologies Ltd, 21 Havaad Haleumi Street, P.O. Box
16120, Jerusalem 91160, Israel; 972-2-675-1123; Fax: 972-2-675-1195;. www.sunprecautions.com and
www.sunprotection.com.
Reactive Protective Clothing
The category of "protective clothing" covers a broad range of hazards. As discussed in the item above,
even sunlight can be a focus, and an appropriate one, for protective clothing. Anyone who has dealt with
a baby diaper knows that it is also a form of protective clothing.
More specialized hazards are being considered, however, and some innovative research is being devoted
to such hazards.
A recent development shows a rather dramatic approach to a specific situation, that of clothing worn by
agricultural workers, specifically those workers exposed to a significant amount of pesticides. In many
such cases the pesticide can pass through the clothing to the skin of the worker and there constituted a
significant hazard.
The solution worked out by researchers at the University of California-Davis involved clothing treated
with chemicals to detoxify such pesticides. These investigators treated cotton fabric used to make shirts
with a cyclic hydantoin compound, which grafted onto the cellulose backbone of the cotton fiber. The
fabric is then treated with a bleaching process similar to that normally used in washing clothing.
This process, using sodium hypochlorite solution, converts the hydantoin moiety into a halamine group.
Interaction of the halamine group on the surface of the shirt fabric with carbamate-type insecticides
results in the carbamate breaking down into small, harmless fragments. In the process, the halamine is
converted back into the hydantoin. Washing the clothing, with a bleach treatment, then regenerates the
halamine, ready to provide the protection.
Thus, the garment is able to go through a cycle: (1) providing protection, (2) washing and bleaching, (3)
regeneration of active site, ready to again provide the protection.
file:///D|/WWW/inda/subscrip/inj99_2/emerg.html (2 of 5) [3/21/2002 5:03:20 PM]