N95 Reprocessing: Comparing Decontamination Methods
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of N95 respirators by hospital staff, patients and the general public, and has interrupted the global healthcare supply chain, resulting in a critical shortage of N95 respirators. In response to this crisis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlighted potential methods for decontaminating N95 masks for emergency reuse. KSH developed a comparison guide to evaluate N95 decontamination methods. This post shares basic principles, resources, and evaluation criteria used to develop that comparison.
This post focuses on decontamination of N95 respirators, but the evaluation principles apply to reuse or reprocessing of any healthcare product. One lesson of the current Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supply crisis is the limitation of single-use disposable supplies. Designing healthcare products for safe reuse can help prevent supply shortages while limiting healthcare costs and avoiding waste. The industry should build upon crisis supply strategies to improve sustainable resource use.
Guiding principles for N95 decontamination:
Single-use, disposable N95 masks are not designed for reuse. The CDC notes that reuse of these masks is a method of last resort.
The CDC organizes PPE optimization strategy by three phases:
Conventional Capacity: everyday conservation practices
Contingency Capacity: enacted during expected PPE shortages
Crisis Capacity: enacted during known PPE shortages
Decontamination of N95 masks falls within the Crisis Capacity phase, as just one part of an extended use or reuse plan.
The takeaway: decontamination of N95 masks should be part of an organizational PPE supply strategy that follows current CDC guidance.
The decontamination methods evaluated by the CDC are published here. UV Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI), Vaporous Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP), and Moist Heat are noted as promising methods. Each N95 decontamination method may be compared using the following criteria:
