Another mask disinfection & reuse study

[Bongleur]

A while back someone posted a study that showed:
1) alcohol ruins a mask because it removes the electrostatic charge coating.
2) water ruins a mask because it makes it much much harder to breath thru.
3) dry heat works:

https://stanfordmedicine.app.box.com/v/covid19-PPE-1-1

Here is a newer study using real virus. It says dry heat at 70 deg C for one hour is required, but only works twice, then the mask is no good.

Hydrogen peroxide vapor at ~1000ppm worked three times before the mask was degraded. They used a specialized incubator designed for this.

UV light also works up to 3 times.

Note they only tested wearing it for 2 hours, not a long shift.

See lines 133 and table at line 308

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.11.20062018v1
Assessment of N95 respirator decontamination and re-use for SARS-CoV-2
Robert Fischer et al
unreview preprint published 15APR20

Explanatory article:
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/928877

 

[calmloki]

Hmm. How about ozone generation? A hotel en route to Oregon says they let rooms sit vacant 3 days, then run an ozone generator and clean. Color me a bit nervous.

 

[LOL!]

I have an N95 mask. I am not using it in a health care setting, so I simply do not worry about re-use nor disinfecting. It was sitting in a plastic bin for months before I started using it and now it sits in my car in the garage for about 2 weeks before I use it again.

For my mask to become contaminated with coronavirus particles, an infected person would have to cough on me in the grocery store. I shop for groceries once every 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[donheff]

I have an N95 mask. I am not using it in a health care setting, so I simply do not worry about re-use nor disinfecting. It was sitting in a plastic bin for months before I started using it and now it sits in my car in the garage for about 2 weeks before I use it again.

For my mask to become contaminated with coronavirus particles, an infected person would have to cough on me in the grocery store. I shop for groceries once every 2 to 3 weeks.

Same here. This is essentially what everyone wearing a mask in public is doing. I suppose, if you wanted to be very cautious, you could keep a set of several masks and recycle through them hoping the virus would die on the surface over the course of a few days. I doubt that extra step would make much difference.

 

[Ronstar]

About the same here. I keep my N95 mask in my truck and wear it in the grocery or home improvement stores. I don’t go to stores more frequently than once every 4 days or so, so I let my mask disinfect itself.

 

[Chuckanut]

I have one N95 mask I bought years ago for a sanding project. I had no idea at the time that N95 was better than the ordinary masks, it just looked sturdier.

After use at a store I put it into a small cardboard box (CV19 doesn't seem to live long on cardboard) and let it sit for at least 3 days. I thought about hanging it out in the bright sunshine, but I was told that might degrade the rubber strap that holds it to my face.

 

[ncbill]

Yep, mask stays in vehicle, exposed to days of full sunlight between uses...I figure that's enough UV.