Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide Decontamination of N95 Respirators in a Dedicated Animal Research Facility for Reuse During a Novel Coronavirus Pandemic

• Published in: Applied biosafety 2020-09, Vol.25 (3), p.142-149
• Main Authors: Hankenson, F. Claire, Mauntel, Mark, Willard, Jamie, Pittsley, Leslie, Degg, William, Burnell, Niko, Vierling, Alan, Griffis, Stanley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 1535-6760; 2470-1246
• DOI: 10.1177/1535676020936381

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care systems and safety providers have faced an unprecedented challenge of limited access to personal protective equipment (PPE) to conduct patient and public care. In federal emergencies, reuse of PPE after disinfection can occur by processes, like vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP), recommended by the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention. We identified a vacant animal holding facility at our institution to repurpose into a regional VHP decontamination center. Methods: The facility is a multiroom, 20 000 ft2 building with control of HVAC to adjust to VHP conditional requirements. H2O2 was delivered to rooms using robotic HaloFoggers, dispersing H2O2 vapor and increasingly concentrated microdroplets as a fog for a timed period based on cubic footage of rooms. Results: Fogging cycles eliminated 6-log Geobacillus stearothermophilus up to 7 days postcycle. Functional efficacy of treated N95s was confirmed by fit tests of institutional personnel. Signage, process flow mapping, and training materials facilitated ease of workflow and adherence to safety expectations within the building. Discussion and Conclusion: Our study determined that a variety of N95 respirator types and sizes were able to be cleared of potential bacterial and viral agents using VHP in a controlled fog/dwell/exhaust cycle. This repurposed animal facility has the capacity to decontaminate up to 6700 respirators daily, which will address the predicted surge of COVID-19 cases in the state, and ultimately allow each respirator to be reused multiple times. There is no other public site in the region with our capacity to offset the continued supply chain issues for PPE needs.