Assessment of the impact of multiple mild-steam decontaminations on the protection performance of disposable KN95 filtering facepiece respirators.

F Zentgraf, P Johe, H Hoche, B Göckel, S Becker, M Oechsner, A Dreizler

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Infection prevention in practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

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0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

F ZentgrafTechnical University of Darmstadt, Mechanical Engineering, Reactive Flows and Diagnostics, Otto-Berndt-Straße 3, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany.

P JoheTechnical University of Darmstadt, Mechanical Engineering, Reactive Flows and Diagnostics, Otto-Berndt-Straße 3, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany.

H HocheTechnical University of Darmstadt, Mechanical Engineering, Center for Structural Materials, Grafenstraße 2, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany.

B GöckelAlice-SterilGutVersorgung, Alice-Hospital, Dieburger Straße 31, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany.

S BeckerDivision of Pediatric Pulmonology, Children's Hospital, Dieburger Straße 31, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany.

M OechsnerTechnical University of Darmstadt, Mechanical Engineering, Center for Structural Materials, Grafenstraße 2, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany.

A DreizlerTechnical University of Darmstadt, Mechanical Engineering, Reactive Flows and Diagnostics, Otto-Berndt-Straße 3, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous supply bottlenecks of single-use filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) leading to a growing need for a potential reuse. This study assesses the impact of multiple mild-steam decontaminations with 121 °C/2000 mbar/20 min on the protection performance of disposable FFRs. It focuses on FFRs of type KN95 that is recently dominating the markets, but its decontamination is not covered in the literature. It was found that up to ten cycles, only minor degradation in the filter efficiency, breathing resistance and none in the material structure is apparent, suggesting a potential for multiple decontamination cycles at almost unchanged protective properties of KN95 FFRs.

Indexed as

COVID-19Face maskFiltration efficiencyKN95RespiratorSterilization

Identifiers

PMID34368748

DOI10.1016/j.infpip.2021.100136

PMCPMC8336038

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LicenceCC BY

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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.