https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fstanfordmedicine.box.com%2Fv%2Fcovid19-PPE-1-1In COVID-19, "50-75% of 3000 positive cases in Vo, Italy were asymptomatic according to Professor Sergio Romagnani. Risk of exposure grows exponentially as noted through actual exposures (charted internationally) N95 masks are warranted and remain the standard of care.
Can N95 masks be autoclaved or sterilized by other means for safe reuse?
To be useful a decontamination method must eliminate the viral threat, be harmless to end-users, and retain respirator integrity. 4C Air confirmed all the proposed treatments have killed corona viruses. Labs have no way to test COVID-19 directly and as an accepted protocol, E. Coli is used for testing. We asked what methods can be used to decontaminate the facial mask for reuse safely and without loss to filtration efficiency. 4C Air confirms using 70 degree C hot air in an oven (typical kitchen-type of oven will do) for 30min, or hot water vapor are additional effective decontamination methods.
Conclusions: DO NOT use alcohol and chlorine-based disinfection methods. These will remove the static charge in the microfibers in N95 facial masks, reducing filtration efficiency. In addition, chlorine also retains gas after de-contamination and these fumes may be harmful.