Spray containing amphoteric material to reduce malodors

Details Spray containing amphoteric material to reduce malodors Spray containing amphoteric material to reduce malodors

2001-05-14

2004-03-09

Page, Thurman K. (Department: 1615)

Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions

Deodorants

C424S076200, C424S046000, C424S043000, C424S045000, C424S069000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06703010

ABSTRACT:

This invention is concerned with compositions, and relates in particular to powder compositions and spray compositions that can be employed to reduce or even remove objectionable smells.
Undesirable odours are a nuisance in many situations; unpleasant smells may at best put people off their work, while at worst they may actually make them feel—and perhaps be—physically sick. Because the human nose can detect smells at active-ingredient levels as low as one part per billion (1 ppb), far below what most analysing equipment can detect, it is difficult to document such reductions by instrumental methods, and there is a serious problem in reducing or removing smells so as to improve the environment.
The molecules of substances that cause smells can range widely in both size and chemical nature. Some are large, and possibly filterable; others are not only too small to be removed that way, they are so small that they can stay suspended in the air for long periods. Some are hydrophobic (and so usually water-insoluble), such as the paraffins/hydrocarbons/mineral oils like diesel and gasoline and many fat soluble esters used as flavour ingredients, while others are hydrophilic (and so usually water-soluble), such as organic acids like butyric acid, (the “rancid butter” smell) and many inorganic compounds like ammonia and hydrogen sulphide. The hydrophilic smell-forming materials can also be subdivided into those that are alkaline, such as ammonia and amines (which often smell fishy), those that are neutral, such as the alcohols (some of the C
3-6
alcohols smell quite disgusting) and mercaptans giving odours typically related to decay of vegetables like cabbage, and those that are acidic, such as the butyric acid found in sour milk and butter products and the hydrogen sulphide found in rotten organic matter (the smell of a bad egg is mostly due to hydrogen sulphide).
In the past many attempts have been made to produce an all-purpose deodorizer, using many combinations of odour-combatting and masking chemicals. Some have been more successful than others, but none has proved truly victorious in the fight against smells. The present invention suggests a novel way of utilising some of the known chemicals, and even a novel combination of some of those chemicals, that seems to be significantly and perhaps surprisingly more effective than those presently available in the marketplace. This novel utilisation is based upon the use of amphoteric material, in particular sodium bicarbonate, in the form of an aqueous spray.
Amphoteric material has both acidic and basic properties, and so can form salts or adducts with both bases and acids. A well-known amphoteric compound is sodium bicarbonate—NaHCO
3
—also known as baking powder.
For many years it has been known that baking powder can be used to remove certain smells from refrigerators or on a surface by spreading it over that surface, leaving it to absorb the smell (no doubt at least partially by reacting chemically with the smell), and then wiping it up. However its acceptance has largely been limited to odour neutralisation in smaller household applications. This is probably due to its rather slow activity in odour removal because it has very limited capacity for most sulphides and mercaptans. It is also very sensitive to moisture; a 5% moisture content can often reduce the neutralisation capacity in respect of some odour molecules by more than 50%. A higher moisture content results in lumps forming which will reduce dramatically the active surface area and thus the neutralising capability. Furthermore, the consistency of baking powder is often such that it will create a very objectionable dust (irritating to breathe in and to have in skin contact). When such dust settles, it clings strongly to most surfaces and is even very difficult to remove by vacuum cleaning. These functional limitations may be the main reasons for its rather limited application and acceptance in the market over the years even though sodium bicarbonate has often been used as a relatively minor ingredient or filler substance in more complex deodorizing compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,676 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,291 disclose an animal litter composition in which sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate is a minor ingredient. The composition comprises 1) a particulate, water-absorbent, clayey component, e.g., sodium bentonite, containing at least one water-swellable clay mineral, e.g., montmorillonite; and 2) a solid particulate deodorizing additive component comprising sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate, the particles of which are substantially coated with a mineral oil, mixed with a powdered siliceous material, e.g., expanded perlite, having a bulk density significantly lower than the density of sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate, the coated particles of sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate being stably adhered to and agglomerated with the particles of the. siliceous material. The animal litter composition contains about 80-98 weight %, preferably about 90-95 weight %, of clayey component provided by the sodium bentonite and about 2-20 weight %, preferably about 5-10 weight %, of deodorising additive component, provided largely by the bicarbonate. The composition may also optionally contain about 0.1 to 1 weight % of zinc oxide to exert a bactericidal action on the waste products in the litter.
GB-A-1356343 discloses a toilet-bowl-sanitising, foam-forming composition which may contain odour-improving additives or deodourising additives. In a particular example, three spray preparations are described. The preparations comprise 17; 23.40 or 22.20 parts of surface active agent(s), 0.1; 0.1 or 0.6 parts of disinfectant or germicide and 1 part alcohol, mixed with an aqueous solution comprising 80.35; 73.95 or 75.15 parts of water, and 1.5 parts of perfume. In a further example, a powder or granulate preparation is described comprising either 40 parts sodium carbonate and 40 parts citric acid, or 30 parts sodium carbonate and 50 parts sodium bisulphate, together with, in each case, 20 parts sodium lauryl sulphate and 0.3 parts fatty alcohol.
WO-A-98/27261 describes an animal care system desirably including animal litter with reduced malodour impression comprising solid moisture-absorbing material and effective amounts of both odour-absorbing material, preferably cyclodextrin or derivative thereof, and material for reducing the formation of malodour, e.g., antibacterial and/or urease inhibitor, preferably water-soluble metallic salt such as zinc salt. Behaviour control products are also provided including animal repellent and attractant products, preferably in spray containers, and freshening and cleaning products, also especially in spray containers, and, preferably, in association with instructions for using the products to carry out a method of animal control in which the animal litter is refreshed as needed, and areas are treated with repellent and attractant products to influence the animals to avoid certain areas and frequent other areas, and products for cleaning areas where accidents occur and discouraging the animal from returning to those areas.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stock formulation useful in the preparation of a spray composition, the formulation comprising, as a major ingredient, amphoteric material and being dispersible in liquid to produce a spray composition containing by weight a relatively small proportion of the formulation in-a relatively large proportion of liquid.
The amphoteric material is preferably inorganic material since, as compared with organic materials, inorganic materials are less susceptible to degradation, especially microbiological degradation over time, i.e. inorganic materials tend to be more stable. The inorganic material may be a salt, particularly sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate. Another advantage is that such salts are often more readily dissolved in water to create a spray liquid than are many organic substances.
Most advantageously, the formulation i

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