A Letter to Reconsider the Conditions for Testing Decontaminated N95 Respirators for Emergency Reuse to Address Shortage

Eric P. Vejerano ； Jeonghyeon Ahn

《Aerosol and Air Quality Research》 20卷8期 (2020/08) Pp. 1713-1715+ap1-2

https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2020.06.0339

摘要

The battle with COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the shortage of personal protective equipment, particularly, N95 respirators. Healthcare workers who reused N95 respirators may resort to unproven methods of cleaning/sterilization that can severely compromise the respirators' filtration efficiency. A recently issued guideline will test decontaminated N95 respirators against particles with a median diameter of 0.075 ± 0.020 μm at a flow rate of 85 L min^(-1). For emergency reuse, these conditions may be too stringent. N95 respirators tested at this flow rate had predicted efficiencies of ＜ 69%, assuming complete degradation of their electrostatic coating. Experimental efficiencies were ~15% lower. For emergency reuse, we recommend to either adjust the flow rate closer to normal breathing, or the size of the test particle should reflect that of virus-laden respiratory aerosols (~＞ 0.5 μm). By reconsidering the test conditions, a substantial fraction of used/decontaminated respirators can be reused.

關鍵字

Fine aerosol ； SARS-CoV-2 ； COVID-19