N95 respirator hybrid decontamination method using Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) coupled with Microwave-Generated Steam (MGS)

• Main Authors: Gopalan, Thirumaaran, Muhamad, Mohd Ridha, Hoe, Victor Chee Wai, Hassandarvish, Pouya
• Format: Article
• Published: Public Library of Science 2024
• Subjects: R Medicine (General); TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/44826/
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has induced a critical supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) especially N95 respirators. Utilizing respirator decontamination procedures to reduce the pathogen load of a contaminated N95 respirator can be a viable solution for reuse purposes. In this study, the efficiency of a novel hybrid respirator decontamination method of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) which utilizes ultraviolet-C (UV-C) rays coupled with microwave-generated steam (MGS) against feline coronavirus (FCoV) was evaluated. The contaminated 3M 1860 respirator pieces were treated with three treatments (UVGI-only, MGS-only, and Hybrid—UVGI + MGS) with variable time. The virucidal activity was evaluated using the TCID50 method. The comparison of decontamination efficiency of the treatments indicated that the hybrid method achieved at least a pathogen log reduction of 4 logs, faster than MGS and UVGI. These data recommend that the proposed hybrid decontamination system is more effective comparatively in achieving pathogen log reduction of 4 logs. Copyright: © 2024 Gopalan et al.