Decontaminating N95 respirators during the Covid-19 pandemic: simple and practical approaches to increase decontamination capacity, speed, safety and ease of use

Russo, Riccardo; Levine, Carly; Veilleux, Courtney; Peixoto, Blas; McCormick-Ell, Jessica; Block, Thomas; Gresko, Anthony; Delmas, G.; Chitale, Poonam; Frees, Alexis; Ruiz, Alejandro; Alland, David

doi:10.1101/2020.08.17.20177022

Cited by 7 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…Hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide was evaluated in its liquid, plasma and gas/vapor forms by nineteen laboratory studies. 33,[40][41][42][43][44]48,52,[58][59][60][61][62]65,66,69,73,75,76 . The effect of hydrogen peroxide on the ltering capacity varied according to the method used.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mask decontamination methods (model N95) for respiratory protection: a rapid review

Probst

Guerrero

Cardoso

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: N95 respiratory protection masks are used by healthcare professionals to prevent contamination from infectious microorganisms transmitted by droplets or aerosols.Methods: We conducted a rapid review of the literature analyzing the effectiveness of decontamination methods for mask reuse. The database searches were carried out up to September 2020. The systematic review was conducted in a way which simplified the stages of a complete systematic review, due to the worldwide necessity on reliable fast evidences on this matter.Results: A total of 563 articles were retrieved of which 48 laboratory-based studies were selected. Fifteen decontamination methods were included in the studies. A total of 19 laboratory studies used Hydrogen peroxide, 21 studies used ultraviolet germicidal irradiation,4 studies used ethylene oxide, 11 studies used dry heat, 9 studies used moist heat, 5 studies used ethanol, two studies used isopropanol solution, 11 studies used microwave oven, 10 studies used sodium hypochlorite, seven studies used autoclave, three studies used electric rice cooker, one study used cleaning wipes, one study used bar soap, one study used water, one study used multi-purpose high-level disinfection cabinet and another one used chlorine dioxide. Five methods promising: hydrogen peroxide vapor, ultraviolet irradiation, dry heat, wet heat/pasteurization, and microwave ovens.Conclusions: We have presented the best available evidence on masks decontamination, nevertheless, its applicability are limited due to few studies on the topic and lack of studies on real environments.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mask decontamination methods (model N95) for respiratory protection: a rapid review

Probst

Guerrero

Cardoso

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide was evaluated in its liquid, plasma and gas/vapor forms by nineteen laboratory studies. 28,[35][36][37][38][39]43,47,[53][54][55][56][57]60,61,64,68,70,71 The effect of hydrogen peroxide on the ltering capacity varied according to the method used. Hydrogen peroxide plasma led to changes in the masks' metallic nasal clips 61 and degradation in their ltering performance.…”

Section: Characterization Of the Included Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decontamination methods for respiratory protection mask model N95: a rapid review

Probst

Guerrero

Cardoso

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: N95 respiratory protection masks are used by healthcare professionals to prevent contamination with infectious microorganisms transmitted by droplets or aerosols.Methods: We conducted a rapid review of the literature analyzing the effectiveness of decontamination methods for mask reuse. The review was carried out in September 2020 using a simplification of the formal systematic review process, which simplified the stages of a complete systematic review, including the exclusion of an assessment of study methodology.Results: A total of 563 articles were retrieved of which 48 laboratory-based studies were selected. Fifteen decontamination methods were included in the studies. Hydrogen peroxide was evaluated by 19 laboratory studies, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation by 21, ethylene oxide by 4, dry heat by 11, moist heat by 9, ethanol by 5, isopropanol solution by 2, microwave oven by 11, sodium hypochlorite by 10, autoclave by 7, electric rice cooker by 3, cleaning wipes by 1, bar soap and water 1, multi-Purpose High-Level Disinfection Cabinet by 1 and chlorine dioxide by 1. Five methods appear promising: hydrogen peroxide vapor, ultraviolet irradiation, dry heat, wet heat/pasteurization, and microwave ovens.Conclusions: Positive results should be considered with caution as they represent a small number of studies, reflect ideal laboratory conditions, and may have limited applicability in realistic situations and for health systems.

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“…Large hydrogen peroxide vapour based commercial systems (e.g. the Battelle 24 or Steris 25 decontamination systems) were not available in India. Heat-based decontamination methods were hence felt to be most suitable due to easy applicability, availability and accessibility at a fraction of the cost as compared to other methods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat-based N95 mask decontamination and reuse in a large hospital setting

Vora

Bhattacharya

Ghosh

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The shortage of N95 masks have spurred efforts on developing safe and scientifically-validated decontamination and reuse protocols that are easily scalable and universally applicable even in low-resource settings. We report on the development and implementation of a heat-based N95 mask decontamination system in a large hospital setting (Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India) with over 8000 N95 masks from about 1400 individual users decontaminated and in reuse till date. We describe the challenges and constraints in choosing a proven, scalable, and easy-to-implement decontamination solution. We discuss the heat treatment and particle filtration efficiency measurement experiments done to validate a decontamination treatment protocol at a target temperature of 70°C for a duration of 60 minutes, and the scaling up of this method using a standard hot drying cabinet at the hospital. The logistics of ensuring optimal utilization of the decontamination facility without compromising on basic safety principles are detailed. Our method relies on equipment available in standard hospitals, is simple to set-up, scalable, and can be easily replicated in low-resource settings. We further believe such limited reuse strategies, even in times of abundant N95 mask availability, would not only be cost-saving but also be environmentally responsible in reducing the amount of medical waste.

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Decontaminating N95 respirators during the Covid-19 pandemic: simple and practical approaches to increase decontamination capacity, speed, safety and ease of use

Cited by 7 publications

References 11 publications

Mask decontamination methods (model N95) for respiratory protection: a rapid review

Mask decontamination methods (model N95) for respiratory protection: a rapid review

Decontamination methods for respiratory protection mask model N95: a rapid review

Heat-based N95 mask decontamination and reuse in a large hospital setting

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