thermal disinfection inactivates sars-cov-2 in n95 respirators while decreasing their protective function
thermal disinfection inactivates sars-cov-2 in n95 respirators while decreasing their protective function
in agreement with our findings, a recent report shows inactivation of sars- cov-2 in n95 respirators after 60 minutes exposure to 70°c dry heat.23 others have shown that shorter thermal disinfection protocols (15 to 40 min at 75°c to 100°c and 0% to 100% relative humidity) maintain the fit and filtration of n95 respirators after multiple disinfection cycles, but without testing the viricidal effects of those protocols.2629 beyond thermal disinfection, alternative decontamination procedures have been studied, including ultraviolet (uv) light irradiation (250280 nm), autoclaving or chemical treatments using 70% ethanol or 2% chlorine solutions (some references from nonpeer-reviewed preprint).23,2835 autoclaving and chemical treatments have been shown to rapidly degrade filtration efficiency of n95 respirators and are therefore ineligible for clinical use.23,28,3436 in contrast, uv light decontamination systems may represent a promising approach as they seem to maintain respirator function and inactivate sars- cov-2.23,33 however, the scalability of uv decontamination may be limited, as stacking of the masks and consequent shadowing may further impair the limited penetration depth of uv light in porous n95 filter material.28 in conjunction with alternative reprocessing strategies, thermal disinfection can be used as a rapidly applicable emergency measure to alleviate the present global shortage of n95 respirators.", 


































"interpretation: thermal disinfection successfully decontaminated n95 respirators without impairing structural integrity or function.", "results a single heat treatment inactivated both sars-cov-2 (undetectable, detection limit: 100 tcid50/ml) and e. coli (0 colonies at 50%rh) in all four respirator models.")