LCD Monitors May Have Medical Applications

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You read here, back in May, about how a Taiwanese company got sued by its own workers over being poisoned by a substance in LCD monitors called n-hexane. Well, they may have spoke too soon, because the University of York has identified a component of LCD monitors that could have huge medical benefit all its own.

The substance in question is called PVA, or polyvinyl alcohol, and it’s the key component in LCD displays. When the polyvinyl alcohol is heated, cooled and then dehydrated, what results is a “mesoporous material” that has some use by itself in biomedicine. But when nanoparticles of silver are added to the mix, it becomes a potent antibacterial agent that can even kill the really nasty bacteria like E.Coli.

The end result here is that, in the future, hospital surfaces are likely to be made out of silver-impregnated PVA surfaces, which in turn will cut down on cross-contamination issues and collateral post-surgical problems. But naturally, this is still a good ways off.

Think about that for a second–used LCD displays, which are a huge chunk of the e-waste problem worldwide, might well be used in a few years to cut down on incidental infections in hospitals. Life saving green technology that cuts down on waste can’t be anything but good.