Effectiveness of Three Decontamination Treatments against Influenza Virus Applied to Filtering Facepiece Respirators

Filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) are recommended for use as precautions against airborne pathogenic microorganisms; however, during pandemics demand for FFRs may far exceed availability. Reuse of FFRs following decontamination has been proposed but few reported studies have addressed the feasi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Annals of occupational hygiene 2012, Vol.56 (1), p.92-101
Main Authors: Lore, Michael B., Heimbuch, Brian K., Brown, Teanne L., Wander, Joseph D., Hinrichs, Steven H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Decontamination - methods
Epidemiology. Vaccinations
Equipment Contamination - prevention & control
Equipment Reuse
Filtration - instrumentation
General aspects
Health participants
Hot Temperature
Humans
Infectious diseases
Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype - isolation & purification
Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype - radiation effects
Influenza, Human - prevention & control
Medical sciences
Microwaves
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Respiratory Protective Devices - standards
Steam
Ultraviolet Rays
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Summary:Filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) are recommended for use as precautions against airborne pathogenic microorganisms; however, during pandemics demand for FFRs may far exceed availability. Reuse of FFRs following decontamination has been proposed but few reported studies have addressed the feasibility. Concerns regarding biocidal efficacy, respirator performance post decontamination, decontamination cost, and user safety have impeded adoption of reuse measures. This study examined the effectiveness of three energetic decontamination methods [ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), microwave-generated steam, and moist heat] on two National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-certified N95 FFRs (3M models 1860s and 1870) contaminated with H5N1. An aerosol settling chamber was used to apply virus-laden droplets to FFRs in a method designed to simulate respiratory deposition of droplets onto surfaces. When FFRs were examined post decontamination by viral culture, all three decontamination methods were effective, reducing virus load by >4 log median tissue culture infective dose. Analysis of treated FFRs using a quantitative molecular amplification assay (quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction) indicated that UVGI decontamination resulted in lower levels of detectable viral RNA than the other two methods. Filter performance was evaluated before and after decontamination using a 1% NaCl aerosol. As all FFRs displayed
ISSN:0003-4878
1475-3162
1475-3162
DOI:10.1093/annhyg/mer054