Take Home Points
- N95 masks ideally should be single use but in COVID19 times, safe reuse practices are critical.
- The best approach to reuse is vaporized H2O2 and UV light decontamination with a total of 3 decon cycles prior to losing mask integrity.
- A backup method of cycling between 4 masks is likely effective as SARS-CoV-2 cannot survive > 72 hours outside a human host in sufficient numbers to cause infection.
- Ethanol soaks are effective in decontamination but destroy mask integrity and should not be use.
REBEL Core Cast 32.0 – N95 Mask Reuse
References
- Fischer RJ et al. Assessment of N95 respiratory decontamination and re-use for SARS-CoV-2. Preprint without peer review 04.15.20. [Link is HERE]
- Stanford Medicine: Addressing COVID-19 Face Mask Shortages
- Nebraska Medicine: N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) Process for Decontamination and Reuse
Post Peer Reviewed By: Salim R. Rezaie, MD (Twitter: @srrezaie)
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