For almost two hundred years, scientists have known that microorganisms cannot live on the surface of snow crab shells but could not identify the growth deterrent. We now know that the substance is chitin, a biopolymer in the shells of crabs and shrimp.
The shells are processed to yield pure chitin for commercial use. Chitin is further refined to create chitosan, which can be evenly suspended in a weak organic acid solution known as Bac-ShieldTM. AstroShieldTM is Bac-ShieldTM technology from Chem-Tex Laboratories adapted and tested for synthetic turf. It was registered as Bac-ShieldTM WS4 under the Treated Article Exemption with the EPA in 2003.*
Unlike some professional antimicrobial synthetic turf surfacing products, AstroShieldTM has one of the lowest toxicity levels (EPA Category III).
EPA TOXICITY CATEGORIES |
Study |
Category I |
Category II |
Category III |
Category IV |
| Acute oral |
Up to and including 50 mg/kg |
>50 thru500 mg/kg |
>500 thru 5000 mg/kg |
>5000 mg/kg |
| Acute dermal |
Up to and including 200 mg/kg |
>200 through 2000 mg/kg
|
>2000 thru 5000 mg/kg
|
>5000 mg/kg
|
| Acute inhalation |
Up to and including 0.05 mg/liter |
>0.05 through 0.50 mg/liter
|
>0.50 thru 2.00 mg/liter
|
>2.00 mg/liter |
| Primary eye irritation |
Corrosive (irreversible destruction of ocular tissue) or corneal involvement or irritation persisting for more than 21 days. |
Corneal involvement or other eye irritation clearing in 8-21 days. |
Corneal involvement or other eye irritation clearing in 7 days or less. |
Minimal effects clearing in less than 24 hours.
|
| Primary skin irritation |
Corrosive (tissue destructive into the dermis and/or scarring) |
Severe irritation at 72 hours (severe erythema or edema)
|
Moderate irritation at 72 hours (moderate erythema)
|
Mild or slight irritation at 72 hours (no irritation or slight erythema) |
| Signal words for labels |
DANGER |
WARNING |
CAUTION |
none required |
| |
(Bleach) |
|
(AstroShieldTM) |
(Water, if reg.) |
Extensive AstroShieldTM laboratory tests have been conducted on various textiles and surfaces according to AATCC and ASTM industry standards with effective results:
ASTROSHIELDTM LAB TESTS PERTAINING TO BACTERIA ON NYLON |
Dosage (OWF) |
Microorganism, AATCC# |
AATCC 100 Test Results (% reduction) |
| 0.5 |
S.aureas, 6538 |
>99.9 |
| 0.5 |
K. pneumoniae |
>99.9 |
| 3.5 |
E. coli, IFO3301 |
>99.9 |
| 0.5 |
MRSA, 33591 |
>99.9 |
ASTROSHIELDTM MOLD AND FUNGI TEST RESULTS |
CONCENTRATION
%(w/w)* 1 |
Aspergillus niger
ATCC6275 |
Penicillium varians
ATCC10509 |
Trichophyton mentagrophytes
ATCC9533 |
Stachybotrys chartarum ATCC11695 |
Trichoderma
Viride
ATCC28080 |
1.000 |
No growth |
No growth |
No growth |
No growth |
No growth |
0.500 |
10% growth |
10% growth |
No growth |
No growth |
No growth |
0.100 |
70% growth |
80% growth |
No growth |
10% growth |
No growth |
0.050 |
>80% growth |
>80% growth |
No growth |
50% growth. |
No growth |
0.010 |
>80% growth |
>80% growth |
No growth |
>80% growth |
No growth |
0.005 |
>80% growth |
>80% growth |
No growth |
>80% growth |
No growth |
ASTROSHIELDTM FIELD TRIAL ON SYNTHETIC PUTTING GREEN |
Before Treatment |
One Year After Cleaning and Treatment |
 |
 |
| Six Months After Cleaning and Treatment |
 |
Recommended concentration for application solution is 6 ounces of AstroShieldTM per gallon of water (4.5% solution).
One gallon of solution covers approx. 270 sq. ft. of the synthetic turf playing surface.
Click here to download an AstroShieldTM Presentation in Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) format
* See 40 C.F.R. 152.25(a) for guidance about treated article claims. |
