IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i22p12474-d677142.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decontamination Methods of N95 Respirators Contaminated with SARS-CoV-2

Author

Listed:
  • Thirumaaran Gopalan

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Rabi’atul ‘Adawiyah Mohd Yatim

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Mohd Ridha Muhamad

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
    Centre of Advanced Manufacturing and Material Processing (AMMP Centre), Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Nor Shafina Mohamed Nazari

    (Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • N. Awanis Hashim

    (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Jacob John

    (Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

  • Victor Chee Wai Hoe

    (Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia)

Abstract

In the preparation and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly the face mask, is essential. Shortage of PPE due to growing demand leaves health workers at significant risk as they fight this pandemic on the frontline. As a mitigation measure to overcome potential mask shortages, these masks could be decontaminated and prepared for reuse. This review explored past scientific research on various methods of decontamination of the N95-type respirators and their efficiency against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) and hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) show great potential as an effective decontamination system. In addition, UVGI and HPV exhibit excellent effectiveness against the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the N95 respirator surfaces.

Suggested Citation

  • Thirumaaran Gopalan & Rabi’atul ‘Adawiyah Mohd Yatim & Mohd Ridha Muhamad & Nor Shafina Mohamed Nazari & N. Awanis Hashim & Jacob John & Victor Chee Wai Hoe, 2021. "Decontamination Methods of N95 Respirators Contaminated with SARS-CoV-2," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-21, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12474-:d:677142
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12474/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12474/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elena Scaglione & Gianluigi De Falco & Giuseppe Mantova & Valeria Caturano & Alessia Stornaiuolo & Andrea D’Anna & Paola Salvatore, 2022. "An Experimental Analysis of Five Household Equipment-Based Methods for Decontamination and Reuse of Surgical Masks," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-11, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    decontamination; N95 respirators; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI); hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV); heat; microwave-generated steam (MGS); ethanol;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N95 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Asia including Middle East

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12474-:d:677142. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.