In the schools of Busto Arsizio has arrived a bio-paint which sanitizes for years thanks to a lichen

Public and private spaces that are sanitised thanks to a lichen? This is the proposal of an innovative German company that has a branch in Gallarate and promises miracles. After only one application of “biopaint” on the surfaces, bacteria, funguses, yeasts and viruses such as Covid 19 are eliminated for years.

At the Crespi high school in Trento Trieste square the startup Vestatis, based in Hamburg with researchers in Italy, presented the innovative intervention of sanitisation that it offered to some city schools such as, besides the high school, the Manzoni elementary school and the Pontida kindergarten.

Treatments were made on the surfaces of desks, tables and walls with the use of a product, named Vestatis NPS, that is based on a natural active ingredient that is extracted from a lichen, in which the company is investing in terms of research and development and for which it registered a patent. Its application on surfaces demonstrated to guarantee a sanitisation of them of more than 99% of each bacterial or microbial presence, with a minimum guarantee of efficacy of at least three years from the application.

While the product has been validated as a medical device against bacteria by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Italy and Greece, tests on its efficacy against viruses are under way in research laboratories and initial data indicate that the solution is also effective against these invisible enemies.

Giorgio Cerana, CEO of Vestatis, explained how experimentation began five years ago: “It is called Natural Protective Schield and can be applied to all surfaces. The research starts with a fairly well-known molecule that is extracted naturally from a lichen. The principle we followed is that only nature can fight nature”.

The solution, once applied to a surface, creates a protective shield that lasts three years because the molecule grows and branches out in the form of crystals. The molecule showed 98% inhibition of the spike2 molecule of the SARS-CoV-2 in one hour. The result can be monitored using a bioluminometer, a device that allows the effectiveness of the molecule to be measured using a swab.

It works on all surfaces, from glass to masonry, from wood to metals, and the only limitation is the use of strong solvents, “but it would be enough to dilute them,” Cerana assures. The only limitation is the use of strong solvents, “but it would be enough to dilute them,” Cerana assures. A limitation that emerged during the presentation, which took place in a classroom at the Piazza Trento e Trieste campus of the Crespi High School: “We must overcome the problem because we cannot use cleaning treatments as per the decree of the Ministry of Education, Gigi Farioli explained. We must understand how to make this a possibility of concrete intervention and not just experimentation, involving the relevant health authorities.

From Vo’ Euganeo, Alfonso D’Ambrosio, headmaster of the Comprehensive Institute in the Padovan town where this experiment is already under way, said: “We have had zero new positive cases since the 10^th of February, while there have been a few cases in other schools. The biopaint works well but has some problems with aggressive solvents.

 

Translated by Sara Francesca, Elena Gandelli, Micol Viviani

Reviewed by Prof. Robert Clarke