Impact of three biological decontamination methods on filtering facepiece respirator fit, odor, comfort, and donning ease

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bergman MS ; Faulkner KA ; Novak DA ; Palmiero A ; Powell J ; Shaffer RE ; Viscusi DJ
• Description:
  The objective of this study was to determine if ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), moist heat incubation (MHI), or microwave-generated steam (MGS) decontamination affects the fitting characteristics, odor, comfort, or donning ease of six N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) models. For each model, 10 experienced test subjects qualified for the study by passing a standard OSHA quantitative fit test. Once qualified, each subject performed a series of fit tests to assess respirator fit and completed surveys to evaluate odor, comfort, and donning ease with FFRs that were not decontaminated (controls) and with FFRs of the same model that had been decontaminated. Respirator fit was quantitatively measured using a multidonning protocol with the TSI PORTACOUNT Plus and the N95 Companion accessory (designed to count only particles resulting from face to face-seal leakage). Participants' subjective appraisals of the respirator's odor, comfort, and donning ease were captured using a visual analog scale survey. Wilcoxon signed rank tests compared median values for fit, odor, comfort, and donning ease for each FFR and decontamination method against their respective controls for a given model. Two of the six FFRs demonstrated a statistically significant reduction (p less than 0.05) in fit after MHI decontamination. However, for these two FFR models, postdecontamination mean fit factors were still greater than or equal to 100. One of the other FFRs demonstrated a relatively small though statistically significant increase (p less than 0.05) in median odor response after MHI decontamination. These data suggest that FFR users with characteristics similar to those in this study population would be unlikely to experience a clinically meaningful reduction in fit, increase in odor, increase in discomfort, or increased difficulty in donning with the six FFRs included in this study after UVGI, MHI, or MGS decontamination. Further research is needed before decontamination of N95 FFRs for purposes of reuse can be recommended. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biological Products Communicable Diseases Hot Temperature Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Radiation Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety Ultraviolet Rays
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Comfort Biological-agents Decontamination Equipment-design Equipment-reliability Face-masks Filters Germicides Health Care Workers Heat Humans Infection-control Infectious-diseases Irradiation Microwave-radiation N95 Decontamination N95 Respirator Fit Odors Pandemic Influenza Quantitative-analysis Respirator Reuse Respirators Respiratory-equipment Respiratory-protective-equipment Steam-generators Testing-equipment Ultraviolet-radiation

  More +
• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  426-436
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039075
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2011 Jul; 8(7):426-436
• Contact Point Address:
  Ronald E. Shaffer, Technology Research Branch, National Personal Protective Technology Lab, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Building 29, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• Email:
  RShaffer@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ddac7a8fa91c668e13d944c12e8a9a0302d2eafaf7e11a8c3c1fd6b535887743b11bfbca0e66d0293771369b1b45d07f41e0436097af08b155206eff76910c96
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192562/cdc_192562_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 342.69 KB ]