A new kind of activated carbon used in protective antiviral face masks has been developed at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Organic Chemistry.

The activated carbon will be obtained from apricot pits, a waste product in production. It has been established that this carbon is highly absorptive of bacteria as well as viruses in cleaning severe wounds. The manufacture of medical masks in Bulgaria was hampered by the lack of activated carbon, PM Boissov stated at a Council of Ministers sitting this week. He announced that researchers from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences had found a solution to the problem and it is this activated carbon. Boyko Borissov instructed the Minister of Economy Emil Karanikolov and of Health Kiril Ananiev to negotiate the conditions for the manufacture of this type of masks.