Decontamination Effective for Reusing N95 Respirators

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, many frontline workers have had limited accessibility to personal protective equipment (PPE), especially N95 respirators. Some facilities, including hospitals, were having workers reuse the respirators after decontaminating them, Infection Control Today reports. However, they were uncertain whether these decontamination methods were effective.

A study released this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association found the majority of the methods used to decontaminate N95 respirators proved reliable and relatively easy to implement. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) examined 42 studies evaluating five respirator decontamination processes: ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, moist heat, microwave-generated steam, vaporized hydrogen peroxide, and ethylene oxide. They found all five methods were effective at sterilizing the respirators without damaging their filtration performance.

Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation and moist heat caused the least damage to the respirators, and those two methods along with microwave-generated steam had short treatment times and could be done with readily available equipment. Vaporized hydrogen peroxide also was a suitable option, although it was found to take longer and is more expensive. The fifth method, ethylene oxide, could potentially leave toxic residue and is less easy to implement.

However, some of the methods were more likely to damage the shape of the respirators, affecting their fit. As the shape and composition of N95 respirators varies among manufacturers, the researchers recommended that facilities check the specific brand of respirators they stock against each decontamination method to find the process that works best for them.