Inflammation-Suppressing Human Micro-Environment Polymer

A passive polymer system that lowers baseline human inflammatory load by permanently neutralizing transferable airborne bioactive drivers within indoor environments

I. System Definition

This system is a microphase-separated, zwitterionic block-copolymer textile surface embedding covalently anchored redox-buffer motifs and nucleophilic binding sites for continuous sequestration of the transferable bioactive fraction of particulate-associated endotoxin/allergen fragments, consumption of indoor oxidants, and neutralization of reactive aldehydes, with no re-emission or hazardous byproducts under real indoor cycling.

The system operates passively, without airflow forcing, regeneration, external energy input, antimicrobial activity, or user behavior. Its function is to lower the chronic inflammatory background of indoor human micro-environments by permanently removing specific biochemical triggers from circulation.

II. Targeted Inflammation Drivers

• Transferable bioactive PM fractions: endotoxin and allergen fragments associated with particulate matter that activate epithelial and innate immune pathways independent of bulk particle mass.
• Indoor oxidants: ozone and secondary oxidants that generate oxidative stress and epithelial injury.
• Reactive aldehydes: small electrophilic VOCs (e.g., formaldehyde) that form protein adducts and irritate airway and neural tissues.

Bulk particulate filtration, antimicrobial killing, and universal VOC capture are explicitly outside scope. Only transferable bioactive and chemically reactive drivers are claimed.

III. Governing Polymer Mechanisms

Bioactive Fragment Sequestration

Target fragments are captured by a dual-mode architecture: high-affinity ionic and zwitterionic sites immobilize fragments electrostatically, followed by physical entrapment within hydrated gel microcavities. This suppresses transfer, shedding, and re-aerosolization under physiologically relevant humidity, handling, and cleaning.

Oxidant Consumption

Indoor oxidants are consumed by immobilized redox-buffer motifs that irreversibly transition to a stable oxidized state. No catalytic regeneration is claimed, and no volatile carbonyl or secondary byproducts are produced above ambient baseline.

Reactive Aldehyde Neutralization

Reactive aldehydes are neutralized by covalently anchored nucleophilic sites, forming stable, non-volatile adducts retained within the polymer matrix. Non-reactive VOCs are not claimed.

IV. Polymer Architecture

• Base: polyether-based block copolymer incorporating zwitterionic sulfobetaine segments.
• Functional domains: covalently immobilized catechol-like redox motifs and nucleophilic capture sites.
• Morphology: hydrated surface region containing nanodomains (20–50 nm) within a functional layer thickness exceeding diffusion lengths of targeted species under service cycling.

The architecture prevents functional group migration, blooming, leaching, or surface depletion during use.

V. Internal State Vector (MTI-1)

System integrity is governed by a minimal, observable state vector:

• Surface hydration (contact angle or gravimetric uptake)
• Surface ionic conductivity (impedance spectroscopy)
• Redox capacity index (quinone:catechol ratio or equivalent spectral proxy)
• Bound bioactive fragment load (surface extract assay, e.g., LAL or ELISA)

These parameters evolve monotonically under exposure and define both functional capacity and end-of-life conditions.

VI. Failure Physics and Silent Killers

• Saturation: redox and ionic signals plateau while breakthrough appears in air metrics.
• Fouling: surface hydration decreases, permeability drops.
• Plasticization: swelling >5% with domain broadening.
• Migration: any detectable extractables in wash or wipe fluids.
• Humidity drift: irreversible conductivity loss across cycles.

VII. Decisive Falsification Test

Standardized textile panels are chamber-exposed to real-world indoor PM, ozone, and aldehydes under humidity cycling and cleaning stress.

The claim fails if any targeted driver shows insufficient reduction, early breakthrough, re-release under challenge, or formation of hazardous byproducts above ambient baseline.

VIII. First Deployment Wedge

Hospital rooms represent the highest-value initial deployment: vulnerable populations, elevated irritant loads, frequent cleaning, and institutional capacity for controlled replacement cycles.

IX. Humanity-Scale Significance

This system alters the baseline inflammatory ecology of indoor human environments continuously and passively. By lowering chronic immune activation without behavior change, it enables cumulative health protection across sleep, work, recovery, and care settings—an effect unreachable by filters, ventilation, or episodic interventions.

X. Invariant Closure (Canonical)

Symmetry group (𝑮): Indoor environmental cycling transformations (humidity, occupancy, cleaning, airflow fluctuations) under which system legitimacy is claimed.

Conserved quantity (𝑸): Total chemically active inflammatory driver load within the micro-environment (oxidant equivalents + transferable bioactive fragment potential).

Invariant spectrum (𝑺): The measurable set of irreducible chemical states retained or neutralized by the polymer: bound endotoxin/allergen fragment load, consumed oxidant capacity, and aldehyde adduct population—observable via MTI-1 state variables.

Failure signature on 𝑺: Re-emergence, transfer, or regeneration of any targeted inflammatory driver despite unchanged conserved totals elsewhere in the room; or loss of monotonicity in the MTI-1 vector.

Disentitlement: Any claim of inflammation suppression, health benefit, or environmental control that does not map directly to persistence and monotonic evolution of 𝑺 is illegitimate. Bulk air metrics, proxy comfort indicators, or subjective outcomes cannot substitute for invariant-state verification.

Edge of Knowledge documents define regime-bounded mechanisms and falsifiable constraints. This system establishes a new category of passive inflammatory-load governance for indoor human environments.