Israeli ‘miracle’ COVID mask aims to allow you to sleep safer

A person’s bed linen can retain 17,000 times more bacteria than an average toilet seat within one week of use. That’s a frightening statistic, considering an average person spends around one-third of their lives lying in bed.

Sonovia, the Israeli makers of the antiviral SonoMask, hope to make your bedroom a little safer with a new line of bed linen.

SonoMask proved to be 99% effective at neutralizing the novel coronavirus, according to multiple studies.

The company’s pillowcases, which contain active zinc in their fabric, are already available online. The rest of the bed linen should be rolled out later this month.

“Zinc is used abundantly in many skincare products due to its outstanding antibacterial properties,” according to the company’s blog. “Those exact same capabilities give Sonovia’s pillowcases the ability to eliminate bacteria with over 99% efficacy.”

Like its signature masks, the pillowcases are meant to be durable, self-sanitizing, anti-odor and cooling.

“Not only does your skin shed millions of cells on a daily basis, but sheets themselves are made from natural fibers that are ripe for bacteria,” Sonovia CTO Liat Goldhammer-Steinberg said. “You sweat, liquid from your body proliferates on the linens, and ultimately that is a very good source for bacteria to accumulate.”

“It affects you even if you don’t consider it,” she said.

Sometimes, for example, this bacteria can cause acne. Other times, it can lead to eye irritation and infection or even infections in the lungs.

“Since coronavirus, we are looking at the world in a different way – at the potential of a pandemic or pollution to disrupt our daily lives, create casualties and loss to the economy,” Goldhammer-Steinberg said. “That is why we targeted bed linens.”

Sonovia is also working on designing seat covers that people can use on public transportation, including buses and airplanes, and there are other ideas as well, she said. Earlier this month, it announced a partnership with Delta Galil Industries to develop a line of activewear.

Pillowcases in both sateen and percale are currently available.

The company’s technology is based on a lab-scale sonochemical process that was developed at Bar-Ilan University. At the start of the pandemic, it did not have a product on the market. Today, its SonoMask has helped tens of thousands of frontline workers in more than 100 countries.