With UV Light, N95 Masks Can Be Cleaned and Reused Safely
Researchers at NIST have discovered that, under specific conditions, UV can adequately disinfect masks without causing any unwanted alterations. The findings mark a key step toward the development of standard, science-backed UV disinfection methods that could be critical in the future if the PPE supply is low. Credit: NIST
To combat COVID-19 amid supply shortages in 2020, health care facilities across the U.S. resorted to disinfecting personal protective equipment (PPE), such as N95 masks, for reuse with methods such as ultraviolet (UV) light. But questions lingered about the safety and efficacy of these methods and how best to implement them.
Now, in perhaps the most rigorous examination of UV light’s effects on N95 masks yet, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have shown that these masks can be disinfected with little impact on their form or function. In a new study published in the Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the researchers, with help from federal and private partners, scrutinized UV-exposed N95 masks for traces of virus and looked for changes in the shape of their fibers, ability to filter out aerosols and other properties.
The results represent a key step toward devising UV standards that could have far-reaching benefits in the future.
“Right now, UV technologies are really in their infancy with respect to the health care environment,” said NIST research chemist and senior adviser Dianne Poster, a co-author of the study. “And the data in this paper could be really instrumental in building the foundation for these applications to become more routine.”
N95 masks provide a formidable ..
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