Evaluation of decontamination methods for commercial and alternative respirator and mask materials - view from filtration aspect
Evaluation of decontamination methods for commercial and alternative respirator and mask materials - view from filtration aspect
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jaerosci.2020.105609
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发表时间：
2020-12-01
影响因子：
4.5
通讯作者：
Pui, David Y. H.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ou, Qisheng;Pei, Chenxing;Pui, David Y. H.
本研究旨在评估三种市售口罩(3M8210口罩、Halyard 48207外科口罩和3M1820操作口罩)和两种替代面罩和口罩材料(Halyard H600灭菌包装和康明斯EX101)在选定的去污处理后的过滤性能，这些处理包括异丙醇处理(浸泡或喷雾)、紫外线杀菌照射(UVGI)和热处理(77℃干热或蒸汽加热)。IPA浸泡和喷雾都去除了所有四种驻极体材料(三种商用材料和一种替代材料)上的大部分静电电荷，导致过滤效率严重恶化到不可接受的水平。另一种非驻极体替代材料经IPA浸泡和喷雾处理后仍保持其N95级的性能，表明IPA消毒可能应用于非驻极体替代呼吸器/面罩材料。UVGI在经过多达10次治疗后，保存了所有三种商用呼吸器/面罩材料的过滤，这表明它可能是一种医院和临床使用的去污方法，而不会影响呼吸器/面罩的性能。讨论了该方法在实际应用中应注意的问题。在所测试的两种热处理方法中，干热通过保持过滤效率和适合性(仅在商用呼吸器上测试)与驻极体材料表现出更好的兼容性，尽管有报道称添加水分有利于病毒灭活。热处理是一般公众在家中容易实施的方法，但建议将湿度保持在饱和以下。与尺寸积分方法相比，尺寸分辨分数效率测量技术虽然耗时较长，但通过提供更灵敏的性能劣化检测和区分电荷损失与其他导致效率劣化的机制，被证明是一种更好的去污后呼吸器/口罩过滤性能的方法。方法部分提供了详细的说明，以强调适当的效率评估所需的注意事项。在这项研究中，由可替代灭菌包装制成的磨损口罩的有限结果表明，驻极体材料可能因正常的人类佩戴活动而导致性能下降，这表明有必要通过测试实际磨损和去污/重复使用的样品来评估呼吸器/口罩的去污策略，而不是只测试未磨损的仅去污的样品。
This study aims to evaluate the filtration performance of three commercially available (3M 8210 respirator, Halyard 48207 surgical mask, and 3M 1820 procedure mask) and two alternative face mask and respirator materials (Halyard H600 sterilization wrap and Cummins EX101) after selected decontamination treatments, including isopropanol (IPA) treatments (soaking or spraying), ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), and heat treatments (dry heat at 77 degrees C or steam heat). Both IPA soaking and spraying removed most electrostatic charges on all four electret materials (three commercial and one alternative), causing significant deterioration of filtration efficiency to unacceptable level. The other non-electret alternative material sustained its N95-grade performance after both IPA soaking and spraying treatments, demonstrating the possible application of IPA disinfection for non-electret alternative respirator/mask materials. UVGI preserved the filtration of all three commercially available respirator/mask materials after up to 10 treatments, suggesting it can be a possible decontamination method for hospital and clinic use without compromising respirator/mask performance. The considerations of the practical implementation of this method was discussed. Between the two heat treatment methods tested, dry heat showed better compatibility with electret material by sustaining both filtration efficiency and fit (tested on commercial respirator only), although adding moisture was reported in favor of virus inactivation. Heat treatment is easily accessible method for general publics to implement at home, while it is recommended to maintain the moisture level below saturation. Comparing to size-integrated method, the size-resolved fractional efficiency measurement technique, although more time consuming, proved to be a better method for evaluating respirator/mask filtration performance after decontaminations by providing more sensitive detection of performance degradation and the capability of distinguishing charge loss to other mechanisms causing efficiency deterioration. Detailed descriptions are provided in methodology part to emphasize the cares needed for an appropriate efficiency evaluation. The limited results in this study on worn masks made of alternative sterilization wrap indicated possible performance degradation of electret material caused by normal human wearing activities, suggesting the need of assessing respirator/mask decontamination strategy by testing practically worn-and-decontaminated/reused samples instead of unworn only-decontaminated counterparts.