Brazilian company, JBS Couros, has announced the launch of JBS V-Block technology, which inactivates the SARS-Cov-2 virus, the cause of COVID. A silver micro-particle additive is added to the leather coating at the processing stage, providing it with antiviral qualities. JBS Couros is a supplier to furniture, automotive, footwear, and leather goods markets.
Guilherme Motta, president of JBS Couros, said, “Our leather has undergone scientific tests that prove the inactivation of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. The application of this new technology sets a new standard in leather production. It not only inactivates the spread of viruses, including Sars-Cov-2, the virus which causes COVID, but assists in the preservation of the material, making it ideal for use in surfaces that are used regularly or come into contact with several people meaning there is potential increased exposure to COVID and other viruses, such as furniture, seating, and vehicle steering wheels or items such as clothing, bags, and wallets.”
The JBS V-Block leather is available on-demand globally. In tests conducted in the level 3 biosafety laboratory (NB3) of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (ICB-USP), the material showed 99 percent inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 virus in 30 minutes from contact with viral particles. The tests were made following the international standard ISO 21702, which establishes the most appropriate methods to detect antiviral activity in plastics and non-porous surfaces, the company said in a media statement.
Daniel Minozzi, founder and director of Nanox said, “The micro-particles are constructed from the synthesis of silver salts, an element chosen for their recognized antiviral action, and stabilized by synthesis technology. Silver micro-particles can inactivate the virus by two mechanisms: in its membrane, where they break this external coating of the virus and inactivate its entry into the host cells and, in RNA (or DNA), where they oxidize the genetic material of the exposed virus, inactivating its multiplication capacity.”
