BE-MUSES/Collaborative Research: Health Protective Textiles: Bridging the Disposable/Reusable Divide

BE/缪斯：健康防护纺织品：弥合一次性/可重复使用的鸿沟摘要：随着传染病在地球仪上传播，医疗成本飙升，废物流持续增长，必须完成对医用纺织品的全面评估，包括防护性能、成本和环境影响。 这项BE/MUSES研究旨在通过一个跨学科团队的努力来解决这些问题，该团队由一名聚合物化学家，一名化学工程师，一名公共卫生研究人员和两名社会科学家组成，采用互补的方法来研究健康防护纺织品。特别是，将对医疗机构和其他环境中一次性和可重复使用的防护纺织品的物理，社会学，经济，生命周期，健康风险和环境影响进行彻底调查。 医疗领域的防护纺织品包括手术衣、手套、手术单和面罩;这些可以是一次性的或可重复使用的。可重复使用和一次性纺织品的选择取决于许多因素，如成本，保护和舒适性能，政府法规以及对这两种纺织品的社会和心理感知。我们对新型医用纺织品在医疗保健和其他生物和化学防护领域的接受程度和潜在影响感兴趣。研究的具体目标是：（1）确定最有效的、多功能的（2）定量评估在医疗保健行业使用这些纺织品对经济、环境和健康风险降低的影响;（3）确定影响医疗保健工作者接受新材料的社会和心理因素;（4）教育医护人员、病人及公众。这个BE/MUSES项目将由项目官员CTS / ENG，DMII / ENG和DMR / MPS共同管理，反映了这项生物复杂性研究的专业知识的广度。

BE/MUSES: Health Protective Textiles: Bridging the Disposable/Reusable DivideABSTRACT: As infectious diseases circle the globe, medical costs skyrocket and the waste stream continues to grow, it is imperative to complete a comprehensive assessment of medical textiles including protective performance, costs, and environmental impacts. This BE/MUSES research is designed to address these issues through efforts of an interdisciplinary team, consisting of a polymer chemist, a chemical engineer, a public health researcher, and two social scientists, employing complementary methods to study health protective textiles. In particular, a thorough investigation of the physical, sociological, economic, life cycle, health risk, and environmental impacts of disposable and reusable protective textiles in healthcare facilities and other contexts will be conducted. Protective textiles in the medical sphere include surgical gowns, gloves, drapes, and facemasks; these may be disposable or reusable. The selection of reusable and disposable textiles is determined by many factors, such as costs, protective and comfort properties, government regulations, and social and psychological perceptions of both textiles. We are interested in the acceptance and potential impact of new medical textiles in the healthcare and other arenas related to biological and chemical protection. The specific objectives of the research are: (1) to determine the most effective, multi-functional (biocidal and water-repellent) materials for medical applications; (2) to quantitatively assess the economic, environmental, and health risk reduction impacts of using these textiles in the healthcare industry; (3) to determine the social and psychological factors affecting the acceptance of new material by healthcare workers; and (4) to educate healthcare workers, patients, and the public. This BE/MUSES project will be co-managed by program officers CTS / ENG, DMII / ENG and DMR / MPS, reflecting the breadth of expertise brought to this biocomplexity research.