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Impact of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation on new silicone half-piece elastometric respirator (VJR-NMU) performance, structural integrity and sterility during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 10, p e0258245 (2021), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2021.
-
Abstract
- Since the innovation of our new half-piece elastometric respirator, this type of filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) has been used widely in Thailand. Decontamination methods including ultraviolet C (UVC) germicidal irradiation and 70% alcohol have been implemented to decontaminate these respirators. We then examined the inactivation potential of different decontamination processes on porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and numerous bacterial strains, most of which were skin-derived. To enable rigorous integrity of the masks after repeated decontamination processes, fit tests by the Bitrex test, tensile strength and elongation at break were also evaluated. Our results showed that UVC irradiation at a dose of 3 J/cm2 can eradicate bacteria after 60 min and viruses after 10 min. No fungi were found on the mask surface before decontamination. The good fit test results, tensile strength and elongation at break were still maintained after multiple cycles of decontamination. No evidence of physical degradation was found by gross visual inspection. Alcohol (70%) is also an easy and effective way to eradicate microorganisms on respirators. As the current pandemic is expected to continue for months to years, the need to supply adequate reserves of personnel protective equipment (PPE) and develop effective PPE reprocessing methods is crucial. Our studies demonstrated that the novel silicone mask can be safely reprocessed and decontaminated for many cycles by UVC irradiation, which will help ameliorate the shortage of important protective devices in the COVID-19 pandemic era.
- Subjects :
- business.product_category
Light
Sanitization
Staphylococcus
Silicones
Economic shortage
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Respirators
chemistry.chemical_compound
Medical Conditions
Medicine and Health Sciences
Medicine
Public and Occupational Health
Respiratory Protective Devices
Respirator
Decontamination
Virus Testing
Multidisciplinary
Organic Compounds
Physics
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation
Human decontamination
Pulp and paper industry
Bacterial Pathogens
Physical sciences
Chemistry
Infectious Diseases
Medical Microbiology
Engineering and Technology
Pathogens
Research Article
Biotechnology
Ultraviolet radiation
Infectious Disease Control
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Ultraviolet Rays
Science
Bioengineering
Microbiology
Silicone
Electromagnetic radiation
Diagnostic Medicine
Pseudomonas
Humans
Staphylococcus Epidermidis
Pandemics
Microbial Pathogens
Ventilators, Mechanical
Bacteria
business.industry
Uvc irradiation
Organic Chemistry
Chemical Compounds
Organisms
COVID-19
Biology and Life Sciences
Structural integrity
Health Care
chemistry
Alcohols
Medical Devices and Equipment
Preventive Medicine
Ultraviolet C
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 16
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLOS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d823920c9a156f46eb329df981fae358