Your browser doesn't support javascript.
Decontamination Assessment of Nanofiber-based N95 Masks.
Faridi-Majidi, Raheleh; Norouz, Faezeh; Boroumand, Safieh; Nasrollah Tabatabaei, Seyed; Faridi-Majidi, Reza.
  • Faridi-Majidi R; Fanavaran Nano-Meghyas (Fnm Co. Ltd.), Tehran, Iran.
  • Norouz F; Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Boroumand S; Fanavaran Nano-Meghyas (Fnm Co. Ltd.), Tehran, Iran.
  • Nasrollah Tabatabaei S; Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • Faridi-Majidi R; Fanavaran Nano-Meghyas (Fnm Co. Ltd.), Tehran, Iran. refaridi@tums.ac.ir.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int ; 29(53): 80411-80421, 2022 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1899264
ABSTRACT
As the world battles with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, it also prepares for future global pandemics that threaten our health, economy, and survivor. During the outbreak, it became evident that use of personal protective equipment (PPE), specially face masks, can significantly slow the otherwise uncontrolled spread of the virus. Nevertheless, the outbreak and its new variants have caused shortage of PPE in many regions of the world. In addition, waste management of the enormous economical and environmental footprint of single use PPE has proven to be a challenge. Therefore, this study advances the theme of decontaminating used masks. More specifically, the effect of various decontamination techniques on the integrity and functionality of nanofiber-based N95 masks (i.e. capable of at least filtering 95% of 0.3 µm aerosols) were examined. These techniques include 70% ethanol, bleaching, boiling, steaming, ironing as well as placement in autoclave, oven, and exposure to microwave (MW) and ultraviolet (UV) light. Herein, filtration efficiency (by Particle Filtration Efficiency equipment), general morphology, and microstructure of nanofibers (by Field Emission Scanning Electron microscopy) prior and after every decontamination technique were observed. The results suggest that decontamination of masks with 70% ethanol can lead to significant unfavorable changes in the microstructure and filtration efficiency (down to 57.33%) of the masks. In other techniques such as bleaching, boiling, steaming, ironing and placement in the oven, filtration efficiency dropped to only about 80% and in addition, some morphological changes in the nanofiber microstructure were seen. Expectedly, there was no significant reduction in filtration efficiency nor microstructural changes in the case of placement in autoclave and exposure to the UV light. It was concluded that, the latter methods are preferable to decontaminate nanofiber-based N95 masks.
Subject(s)
Keywords

Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Nanofibers / COVID-19 Type of study: Prognostic study Topics: Variants Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Environ Sci Pollut Res Int Journal subject: Environmental Health / Toxicology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S11356-022-20903-w

Similar

MEDLINE

...
LILACS

LIS


Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Nanofibers / COVID-19 Type of study: Prognostic study Topics: Variants Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: Environ Sci Pollut Res Int Journal subject: Environmental Health / Toxicology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S11356-022-20903-w