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A scalable method of applying heat and humidity for decontamination of N95 respirators during the COVID-19 crisis

Journal Article · · PLoS ONE
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [1]
  1. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States); Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  3. 4C Air, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (United States)
  4. Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
  5. Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)
+ Show Author Affiliations
A lack of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators (FFRs) during the COVID-19 crisis has placed healthcare workers at risk. It is important for any N95 reuse strategy to determine the effects that proposed protocols would have on the physical functioning of the mask, as well as the practical aspects of implementation. Here we propose and implement a method of heating N95 respirators with moisture (85°C, 60-85% humidity). We test both mask filtration efficiency and fit to validate this process. Our tests focus on the 3M 1860, 3M 1870, and 3M 8210 Plus N95 models. After five cycles of the heating procedure, all three respirators pass both quantitative fit testing (score of >100) and show no degradation of mask filtration efficiency. We also test the Chen Heng V9501 KN95 and HKYQ N95 finding no degradation of mask filtration efficiency, however even for unheated masks these scored <50 for every fit test. The heating method presented here is scalable from individual masks to over a thousand a day with a single industrial convection oven, making this method practical for local application inside health-care facilities.
Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1647025
Journal Information:
PLoS ONE, Journal Name: PLoS ONE Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 15; ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Moist-Heat Resistance, Spore Aging, and Superdormancy in Clostridium difficile journal March 2011
Role of Absolute Humidity in the Inactivation of Influenza Viruses on Stainless Steel Surfaces at Elevated Temperatures journal April 2010
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Evaluation of Multiple (3-Cycle) Decontamination Processing for Filtering Facepiece Respirators journal December 2010
Filter quality of electret masks in filtering 14.6–594 nm aerosol particles: Effects of five decontamination methods journal October 2017

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Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
COVID 19
Humidity
SARS CoV 2
convection
decontamination
foams
respirators
virus testing