Developing home-disinfection and filtration efficiency improvement methods for N95 respirators and surgical facial masks: stretching supplies and better protection during the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: The U.S. CDC announced on 04/03/2020 that all citizens should wear face coverings when in public, potentially increasing demand for medical face masks from the public and exacerbating mask shortages for Covid-19 response staff. One solution is reuse after disinfection for the general public. Prior studies have shown that heating for 30 mins at 70°C or above effectively kills SARS, including SARS-CoV-2, and Influenza viruses on masks. Black carbon (BC) particles generated from a kerosene-lamp were used as a proxy for Coronavirus aerosols to test mask performance after disinfection given overlapping size distributions. We determined filtration efficiency (FE) measurements by comparing BC values on both sides of the respirators or masks (Moldex N95 and 3M N95 respirators, HSI surgical masks)

SUBMITTER: Yan R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9258976 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature