GREENSBORO, N.C. — As state leaders and school districts determine the safest way for schools to reopen in August, a Triad company is offering up its technology to keep students safe. Signal Hygiene is in the running to get the contract to clean and disinfect schools statewide. The company said its advanced technology can clean and leave surfaces sanitized for three months or longer.
"What we've been able to prove and provide through laboratory testing, through clinical trial is that we can lay down a bio-static barrier on these surfaces that is non-toxic. It is phosphate-free, it is environmentally safe. Once it is applied to a surface it doesn't come off," Brady Lancaster said.
Lancaster is the director of operations at Signal Hygiene in Thomasville. He said typical cleaners most companies use only work in that moment and that as soon as the disinfectant dries, that surface is vulnerable to re-infection.
Lancaster's antimicrobial technology was developed in Greensboro. It uses an electrostatic sprayer to lay down a protective barrier that kills germs and other bacteria including E.coli, MRSA, Strep, Salmonella, and Flu on the spot and keeps them off for 3 to 4 months.
The technology is so new, that it is currently under review with the EPA and FDA to approve its effectiveness against the novel coronavirus, but a third-party study from the University of Arizona found it be to 99.99% effective.
Lancaster said the long-lasting anti-microbial spray would protect schools and keep students and staff safe.
"Think of first graders," Lancaster said. "You're talking about 6 and 7-year-old students social distancing from each other? It's not going to happen. But what we can do, if that child coughs or sneezes, instead of whatever is contained in that sneeze surviving on the surface for days and weeks in some cases, we can literally eliminate that from surviving on the surface in just a few seconds," Lancaster said.
With children, especially in younger grades, unable to resist touching their eyes, mouth and face, the concern is that students at school would be at risk for coronavirus. Lancaster said you wouldn't have to worry about that with this product. He said spraying this molecular shield on surfaces at least once a semester, would keep germs at bay because the protective barrier lasts for more than three months.
"If you sit down at a table or desk, how do you know that table has been disinfected before you sat down? Do you know who was sitting down before you? Did they have the flu? What we're offering and the reason it's so much better is because we can continuously keep those surfaces sanitized for such a long period of time," Lancaster said.
He points to previous clinical trials which showed the product remained effective on surfaces for 90 days and even up to 15 weeks.
Signal Hygiene is in talks with states and city governments across the U.S. to apply their technology in high traffic areas such as emergency rooms, airports and public transportation services. The technology is also ideal for schools and buses and is already being used in restaurants and churches across the state.