A focus on hygiene in the cabin was present well before COVID-19, but in the current situation it has gained enormously in significance. Mankiewicz has already worked for several years on the development of a paint system with antimicrobial effective additives and this resulted in ALEXIT FST
BioProtect: a topcoat based on silver technology that reliably kills bacteria on surfaces painted with it. After a single application the product has proven its effectiveness for more than a decade now. The product’s effect is based on silver technology: Silver ions, as they are contained in ALEXIT FST BioProtect, are highly reactive and they interrupt vital processes in the bacterial cells, ultimately killing them. However, on human cells the silver ions have no negative effect. The effectiveness of silver against bacteria has been known for centuries and successfully used for many purposes.
As is widely known, silver is also generally successful when used against some viruses. It has been observed that test samples with micronized silver contained 90% less viruses after 20 minutes. However, as most viruses have difficulty surviving on surfaces without a host or biofilm in any case, it is still difficult to quantify this effect reliably. So far there is no scientifically correct test procedure to prove this effect.
Even though its effect against viruses has not yet been proven with certainty, killing bacteria on surfaces is equally important. The effect of certain viruses has been shown to be more intense when health is already poor or when there is an underlying bacterial infection. Therefore, by reducing the bacterial load the protection against viral diseases is indirectly improved.
Another advantage of ALEXIT BioProtect is that the silver it contains does not wear off and remains active for many years. The topcoat thus protects the painted surfaces for a long time without it having to be renewed.
