Scientists Test Odor-Free Socks

D A V I S, Calif., Oct. 6, 2000 -- After a 10-mile run, University ofCalifornia, Davis cross-country runners conducted some unusualResearch — they sniffed their socks.

Fortunately, the stockings were developed to eliminate foot odor— and they worked.

The fabric’s inventor, UC-Davis textile chemist Gang Sun, saysit could have benefits far beyond sweeter-smelling locker rooms,including use as infection-fighting hospital scrubs and linens.

The fabric is made by attaching chlorine-containing moleculescalled halamines to textile fibers. Chlorine in this form haspowerful bacteria-killing properties, Sun said.

Sun gave socks to eight members of the cross-country team to tryout.

Socks Are ‘Recharged’ With Bleach

One runner used his pair every day of a five-day retreat thatincluded a daily 12-mile run, said UC Davis cross country coach SueWilliams.

“After the third day or so, he took them off and said ‘I don’tthink these are working anymore.’ But after they had aired out,within three or four minutes, you couldn’t smell anything but afaint smell of chlorine,” Williams said. “That convinced me.”

The socks can be “recharged” by washing them with chlorinebleach. The treated fabric grabs the chlorine, which then kills thegerms. Because they must be washed in chlorine beach, the socksonly come in white.

Sun is working on a new version that could be washed in regulardetergent 20 times before it would have to be recharged with ableach bath.

While Sun is pleased the university’s runners are more pleasantto be around after a meet, his goal isn’t a line of inoffensiveathletic wear.

He’s more concerned with preventing infections passed on inhospitals.

“If you get an infection in a hospital, it’s usually veryserious, and probably multi-drug resistant,” Sun said. “Textilematerials are often carriers of disease passed from doctor topatient.”

But if the bacteria, fungus or virus landed first on a lab coat,curtain or sheet treated with the antimicrobial chemical, thechlorine halamines would kill it before it reached a patient,cutting the infection rate, he said.

Hospital scrubs are already washed in chlorine bleach tosterilize them, which would recharge his medical garbs, Sun said.

Medical Possibilities

Dr. Jon Rosenberg, an infectious disease specialist for thestate Department of Health Services’ communicable disease unit,said he hasn’t seen studies that link health-care workers’ clothingto the transmission of disease.

“We don’t know what the role of gowns is in cross-transmissionin hospitals,” he said. “It’s a major source of interest, butit’s very difficult to study what role gowns play in transmissionof bacteria.”

Studies have shown the biggest vehicle for passing on disease isthrough hands, Rosenberg said.

The technology could also be used in consumer products, such asodor-free socks or diapers, medical products or even paint, saidKent Foster, director of marketing for the HaloSource Corporation.The Seattle-based company has paid UC-Davis for the right to usethe technology.

“If you had specialized paint that you could use in a biotechresearch clean room or a slaughterhouse that has to be sprayed downwith bleach anyway, you might be able to wash it down lessfrequently and it would extend the power of the chlorine over amuch longer period,” Foster said.

The process to make the fabric is similar to how permanent pressis applied to fabric, Foster said.

Getting It to the Marketplace

“Instead of telling manufacturers that they’ll have tointroduce 10 new steps that they currently don’t do, we can foldthis into existing manufacturing with minimum inconvenience,”Foster said.

Because of the ease of adding the treatment, Foster estimatedthe products won’t be much more expensive than they are now.

While it may take years yet to bring the medical applications tothe market, Foster said odor-fighting socks and other athleticapparel could be in stores next year. The price will likelyparallel that of other athletic wear, he said.

Sun’s research was done in collaboration with Auburn Universityin Alabama and was funded in part by a grant from the NationalScience Foundation.