Anti-static aprons

Work funded by us resulted in the introduction of a practical measure which can prevent the spread of life-threatening infections in hospital wards and help save young lives.

In the past, nurses’ cotton uniforms have been implicated in the spread of micro-organisms and this led to the widespread use of disposable plastic aprons. However, plastic is notorious in acquiring static electric charge which is able to attract airborne micro-organisms, as illustrated in the diagram below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the effects of static charge build-up on highly insulated plastic aprons. A nurse wearing a plastic apron with static charge will set up an electric field between nurse and patient where an equal and opposite charge will be induced on the patient. Two methods of transfer of micro-organisms to the patient are envisaged: (i) positively charged bacteria are attracted to the apron and may be subsequently transferred to the patient either by direct contact or by contact with bedclothes, and (ii) negatively charged bacteria are attracted directly to the patient.

Dr Janet Allen set out to investigate whether aprons made of anti-static plastic would constitute a barrier to the spread of micro-organisms.

Nurses’ plastic aprons come in a large roll which is then placed in a plastic wall dispenser. For everyday use in the ward, aprons are pulled out of the dispenser and torn off at the perforation. This generates static electric potential on the apron. The static electric potential generated on five different types of plastic apron was measured. The two anti-static aprons, as expected, acquired no static charge. The static charge on the three other types of plastic apron took up to 7 hours to decay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The aprons were then tested for their ability to attract bacteria with volunteers enlisted to wear the aprons for the test procedures. One of the anti-static aprons tested was shown to result in a 38 per cent reduction in the number of bacteria attracted onto its surface compared with the standard aprons currently in use.

These results show that, at the very least, anti-static plastic aprons reduce the build-up of micro-organisms on their surfaces. The use of such aprons may therefore be effective in reducing patient contact with micro-organisms, especially important in isolation wards where immuno-compromised patients (such as those undergoing stem cell transplantation) are more susceptible to infecting organisms.

As a direct result of this work, the NHS has presented the new anti-static aprons in their new catalogue.