Mask decontamination - a review of the literature

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been responsible for 401,000 deaths worldwide (06/09/2020). Contact and droplet precautions must be taken to stop the spread of this virus, which is essentially transmitted by respiratory routes. Reprocessing units for medical devices (RUMEDs) have had to quickly adapt to the decontamination (reprocessing) of medical devices that had come into contact with COVID-19 patients. Moreover, to deal with shortages in their establishments, they have had to respond to demands for decontamination of single-use face masks and filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs). A comprehensive review of the literature was carried out to describe, analyse and discuss effective methods for decontamination of single-use masks. We can conclude that few studies have tested the overall decontamination process ranging from collection and sorting through cleaning and packaging to sterilization. While the range of mask models tested was limited, and further compounded by a low level of evidence, steam or hydrogen peroxide sterilization would appear to be the most appropriate processes in healthcare settings.