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When it’s not seasoning a steak or rimming a margarita, it turns out salt also works pretty well as a virus exterminator.

At least that’s the finding of a University of Alberta engineering researcher who is taking salt out of the kitchen and putting it to use in a medical setting.

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Specifically, the research from Hyo-Jick Choi and his team shows that a coating of salt (sodium chloride) can significantly improve the effectiveness of the common surgical mask against various pathogens.

“The filter membrane (of the mask) doesn’t deactivate virus, but when it is treated with salt, the virus loses infectivity within five minutes,” said Choi, a professor in the U of A’s department of chemical and materials engineering.

Choi noted that people who currently wear the masks to stop the spread of diseases such as influenza and SARS are likely not as safe as they think.

When someone coughs or sneezes, existing masks can block the virus-laden droplets that are expelled. Yet the virus continues to live on the surface of the mask, making it a potential source of contamination simply by someone handling it.