SynthesisAmerican journal of infection control2020
Decontamination and reuse of N95 filtering facemask respirators: A systematic review of the literature.
Synthesis in American journal of infection control, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Conservation Practices for Personal Protective Equipment: A Systematic Review with Focus on Lower-Income Countries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Decontaminating N95/FFP2 masks for reuse during the COVID-19 epidemic: a systematic review.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2021Pooled it
- Mask decontamination methods (model N95) for respiratory protection: a rapid review.Systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Safety in the practice of decontaminating filtering facepiece respirators: A systematic review.American journal of infection control · 2021Pooled it
- Demonstration of a Home Laundering Method for Cloth Facepieces to Achieve Hygienic and Sustainable Reuse.New solutions : a journal of environmental and occupational health policy : NS · 2025Article
- Impact of ultraviolet radiation on filtering facepiece respirators and SARS-CoV-2 detection.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Deposition of Pd, Pt, and PdPt Nanoparticles on TiOMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Plasma-generated reactive water mist for disinfection of N95 respirators laden with MS2 and T4 bacteriophage viruses.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Filtration efficiency of N95 filtering facepiece respirators during multi-cycles of '8-hour simulated donning + disinfection'.The Journal of hospital infection · 2022Article
- Is atomic layer deposition of silver possible on N95 masks?Applied surface science · 2022Article
- Article
- Effective ultraviolet C light disinfection of respirators demonstrated in challenges with Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores and SARS-CoV-2 virus.The Journal of hospital infection · 2022Article
- Large-scale decontamination of disposable FFP2 and FFP3 respirators by hydrogen peroxide vapour, Finland, April to June 2020.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2022Article
- Impact of washing cycles on the performances of face masks.Journal of aerosol science · 2022Article
- Effect of five decontamination methods on face masks and filtering facepiece respirators contaminated withAccess microbiology · 2022Article
- Effective inactivation ofJournal of analytical science and technology · 2022Article
- Decontamination and reuse of personal protective masks and respirators in healthcare: Human-centered investigation and implementation considerations.Human factors in healthcare · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAs has happened in other emerging respiratory pandemics, demand for N95 filtering facemask respirators (FFRs) has far exceeded their manufacturing production and availability in the context of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. One of the proposed strategies for mitigating the massive demand for N95 FFRs is their reuse after a process of decontamination that allows the inactivation of any potentially infectious material on their surfaces. This article aims to summarize all of the available evidence on the different decontamination methods that might allow disposable N95 FFRs to be reused, with emphasis on decontamination from SARS-CoV-2.
methodsWe performed a systematic review of the literature in order to identify studies reporting outcomes of at least 1 decontamination method for inactivating or removing any potentially infectious material from the surface of N95 FFRs, specifically addressing issues related to reduction of the microbial threat (including SARS-CoV-2 when available), maintaining the function of N95 FFRs and a lack of residual toxicity.
resultsWe identified a total of 15 studies reporting on the different decontamination methods that might allow disposable N95 FFRs to be reused, including small-scale energetic methods and disinfecting solutions/spray/wipes. Among these decontamination methods, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation and vaporized hydrogen peroxide seem to be the most promising decontamination methods for N95 FFRs, based on their biocidal efficacy, filtration performance, fitting characteristics, and residual chemical toxicity, as well as other practical aspects such as the equipment required for their implementation and the maximum number of decontamination cycles.
conclusionsAlthough all the methods for the decontamination and reuse of N95 FFRs have advantages and disadvantages, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation and vaporized hydrogen peroxide seem to be the most promising methods.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.