Addressing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Decontamination: Methylene Blue and Light Inactivates Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on N95 Respirators and Medical Masks with Maintenance of Integrity and Fit

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chen J ; Chu LF ; Chu MC ; Chu S ; Clark T ; Conly JM ; Cui Y ; Dams L ; Davies JM ; De Jaeger S ; Evans D ; Faris P ; Gallagher T ; Harcourt BH ; Haubruge E ; Heyne B ; Homdayjanakul K ; Hope K ; Jolois O ; Kabra KB ; Kilinc-Balci FS ; Lamb MM ; Laperre J ; Lemyre J-L ; Lendvay TS ; Liao L ; Lin Y-C ; Lin YL ; Ludwig-Begall LF ; Macia N ; Mackie CJ ; Malott R ; Mayo M ; Molloy-Simard V ; Mores CN ; Nauwynck H ; Page K ; Parker R ; Patel AN ; Price A ; Reader S ; Sahni J ; Scholte FEM ; Simmons SM ; Smit SJ ; Thiry E ; Timm E ; Tritsch SR ; Wagner T ; Wielick C ; Willaert J-F ; Zhao M
• Description:
  Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), underscoring the urgent need for simple, efficient, and inexpensive methods to decontaminate masks and respirators exposed to severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We hypothesized that methylene blue (MB) photochemical treatment, which has various clinical applications, could decontaminate PPE contaminated with coronavirus. Design: The 2 arms of the study included (1) PPE inoculation with coronaviruses followed by MB with light (MBL) decontamination treatment and (2) PPE treatment with MBL for 5 cycles of decontamination to determine maintenance of PPE performance. Methods: MBL treatment was used to inactivate coronaviruses on 3 N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) and 2 medical mask models. We inoculated FFR and medical mask materials with 3 coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and we treated them with 10 µM MB and exposed them to 50,000 lux of white light or 12,500 lux of red light for 30 minutes. In parallel, integrity was assessed after 5 cycles of decontamination using multiple US and international test methods, and the process was compared with the FDA-authorized vaporized hydrogen peroxide plus ozone (VHP+O3) decontamination method. Results: Overall, MBL robustly and consistently inactivated all 3 coronaviruses with 99.8% to >99.9% virus inactivation across all FFRs and medical masks tested. FFR and medical mask integrity was maintained after 5 cycles of MBL treatment, whereas 1 FFR model failed after 5 cycles of VHP+O3. Conclusions: MBL treatment decontaminated respirators and masks by inactivating 3 tested coronaviruses without compromising integrity through 5 cycles of decontamination. MBL decontamination is effective, is low cost, and does not require specialized equipment, making it applicable in low- to high-resource settings. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  Coronavirus COVID-19 Decontamination Methylene Compounds N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators Personal Protective Equipment Photochemical Reactions PPE SARS-CoV-2
• ISSN:
  0899-823X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Colorado ; District of Columbia ; Georgia ; Illinois ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Pennsylvania ; Utah ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  43
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062843
• Citation:
  Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2022 Jul; 43(7):876-885
• Contact Point Address:
  Thomas S. Lendvay, Department of Urology, University of Washington, Seattle Children's Hospital, 4800 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
• Email:
  thomas.lendvay@seattlechildrens.org
• CAS Registry Number:
  Methylene blue (CAS RN 61-73-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:388e8c621b1bad7dd2b17c1fa6060b04e7f838477c9c99999642262cc322181b0e6f94ab6b0898728d3725d60be37378b26df9b651c9d0aa149438fbaaaf830d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226020/cdc_226020_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.56 MB ]