N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator Reuse, Extended Use, and Filtration Efficiency

Details

• Personal Author:
  Addo N ; DeAngelis J ; Degesys NF ; Fahimi J ; Fisher EM ; Ford JS ; Harris AR ; Nogueira-Prewitt SJ ; Peterson S ; Raven MC ; Reuse N95 Group ; Rosenthal E ; Rothmann RE ; Shah MN ; Stephenson TB ; Tolia V ; Wang RC ; Yaffee AQ ; Yoon KN
• Description:
  N95 filtering facepiece respirators (N95s) are designed to filter 95% or more of viral particles and prevent aerosolized transmission, reducing respiratory viral infections among health care clinicians. Under routine circumstances, N95s are discarded after 1 patient contact. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided strategies for extended use and limited reuse to manage shortages. Emergency department (ED) workers practiced a combination of both, which we termed reuse. Evidence assessing the impact of reuse on filtration efficiency (FE) in clinical settings is needed to inform conservation practices during N95 shortages. We assessed the association of reuse with N95 FE during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that N95s reused for an increasing number of clinical shifts would result in reductions in FE, which would differ by respirator model. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Communicable Diseases Filtration Health Personnel Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  COVID-19 Health Care Workers N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators Personal Protective Equipment PPE Respirator Testing
• ISSN:
  2574-3805
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Atlanta Region [OSHA] ; Birmingham Region [OSHA] ; California ; Chicago Region [OSHA] ; Florida ; Georgia ; Maryland ; New York ; New York City Region [OSHA] ; Pennsylvania ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA] ; San Francisco Region [OSHA] ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  7
• Issue:
  10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070282
• Citation:
  JAMA Netw Open 2024 Oct; 7(10):e2441663
• Contact Point Address:
  Ralph C. Wang, MD, MAS, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, San Fransisco, 505 Parnassus Ave, L126, San Francisco, CA 94143-0208
• Email:
  ralph.wang@ucsf.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  JAMA Network Open
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4bb744fd206b38a500217c8f886214b37a9253523ca460f4871126f69cbc51dbae9f01cb78cb1e1fcd96567ac6a08863362d1c95e4c023d238ac12aec9bb1112
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208528/cdc_208528_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 431.51 KB ]