Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Massachusetts institute of Technology (MIT) reprocessed respirators using vaporised hydrogen peroxide (VHP), a standard decontamination approach, and found that the devices maintained their function and effectiveness on human subjects with up to 25 cycles of re-use.
Using such techniques could help cut down on the vast amount of Covid-19 related plastic waste that has been leaking into the world’s oceans.
N95 respirators are commonly used in hospitals worldwide to protect healthcare personnel from infectious pathogens.
During the pandemic, healthcare facilities experienced shortages of the respirators, forcing personnel to reuse them or resort to less protective alternatives like face masks.
“The findings from our study expand upon previous findings that VHP is a relatively safe method for reprocessing N95 respirators, and could help address shortages in future epidemics,” said Christina F Yen, the...