Summary
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a severe shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), especially N95 respirators. Efficient, effective and economically feasible methods for large-scale PPE decontamination are urgently needed.
Aims (1) to develop protocols for effectively decontaminating PPE using vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP); (2) to develop novel approaches that decrease set up and take down time while also increasing decontamination capacity (3) to test decontamination efficiency for N95 respirators heavily contaminated by makeup or moisturizers.
Methods We converted a decommissioned Biosafety Level 3 laboratory into a facility that could be used to decontaminate N95 respirators. N95 respirators were hung on metal racks, stacked in piles, placed in paper bags or covered with makeup or moisturizer. A VHP®VICTORYTM unit from STERIS was used to inject VHP into the facility. Biological and chemical indicators were used to validate the decontamination process.
Findings N95 respirators individually hung on metal racks were successfully decontaminated using VHP. N95 respirators were also successfully decontaminated when placed in closed paper bags or if stacked in piles of up to six. Stacking reduced the time needed to arrange N95 respirators for decontamination by approximately two-thirds while almost tripling facility capacity. Makeup and moisturizer creams did not interfere with the decontamination process.
Conclusions Respirator stacking can reduce the hands-on time and increase decontamination capacity. When personalization is needed, respirators can be decontaminated in labeled paper bags. Make up or moisturizers do not appear to interfere with VHP decontamination.
Competing Interest Statement
DA receives license fees and research support from Cepheid, a company which develops and sells rapid clinical assays to detect SARS CoV2.
Funding Statement
This work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health [grant number T32AI125185]. Decontamination costs and respirators used in the decontamination studies were paid for or supplied by UH, Newark
Author Declarations
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Rutgers IRB
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Data Availability
All data in the manuscript are available upon request