Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

March 30, 2020

Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor sterilization of N95 respirators for reuse.

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  • Kenney et al evaluated the virucidal activity of hydrogen peroxide (HP) vapor to sterilize N95 respirators for reuse. A single HP vapor cycle resulted in complete eradication of phage from masks (limit of detection 10 PFU, lower than the infectious dose of the majority of respiratory viral pathogens). After 5 cycles, the respirators appeared similar to new with no deformity. HP vapor reprocessing may ease shortages and provide a higher filtration crisis alternative to non-NIOSH masks.

Kenney et al. (Mar 27, 2020). Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor sterilization of N95 respirators for reuse. Pre-print downloaded Mar 30th, 2020 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.24.20041087