Auto Interiors
Whether the active lifestyle is of your making or the making of your children, most people today are faced with a life of running from point to point. For many, the automobile is a mobile locker room where kids change from their dance shoes to soccer cleats. Carpets get muddy, seats get wet, shoulder straps get sweaty. It’s not the major floods, but it’s the build up of minor insults over time that can make the interior of an automobile smell like a locker room.
Dust Mites
House dust mites are not parasitic nor are they capable of biting or stinging humans. Their significance as pests is due to the powerful allergens contained in the mites, their cast skins, fecal material and secretions. Symptoms of a house dust mite allergy include stuffy or runny nose, sneezing, coughing or watery eyes. Inhalation of dust mite allergens by hypersensitive individuals can result in acute attacks of bronchial asthma, accompanied by wheezing, shortness of breath, and perhaps even death. Dust mites have a primitive gut that needs the help of fungi to process their food. Because dust mites rely on fungus to process their nutrients, if the fungus isn’t there to help process the food for the dust mites – the dust mites starve and die off. That is why antifungal technologies effectively control dust mite contamination.
Smelly Towels
Ever experience towels that still had a lingering odor after they were washed in an high efficiency washer? One of the reasons smelly towels get that way is because the high efficiency washers just aren’t designed to effectively deal with the significant bioload that can develop in towels. Fortunately, new towels are being developed that control the bioload and eliminate those odors. These towels are so effective they can be used longer between washing without developing odors.
Conserving Water with Textiles
The most precious resource on earth is often said to be water. For the last ten years textile mills have been focusing on conserving water during the production of textiles. Much of this concern has been promulgated by apparel retailers and apparel brands requesting that the mills produce their goods in a more sustainable manner. The International Antimicrobial Council applauds the work that has been done in this area and the leadership shown by the entire textile industry. As important as it is to save water during the production of textiles, the majority of water used for textiles is in the maintenance of textiles, or laundering by consumers. By buying antimicrobial treated textiles each family could save approximately 9,000 gallons (34,000L) of water each year.
EPA Tyrant or Guardian?
The USEPA is often seen as being at odds with American business interests. We hear the construction industry voice its concerns about how the EPA focuses on the protection of some isolated endangered species while curtailing developments that create jobs. We also hear from the industrial giants about how restrictive the USEPA regulations on automobiles, factories and electric generators can be. Some of these restrictions are obviously overdue and bring about proper protections, others appear to be hard to justify in any light. The USEPA policies regarding antimicrobial claims that can be made for products sold under the treated articles exemption have been around for well over a decade and have had a rather logical progression that has been relatively easy to figure out and to follow.