Impact of the Contamination Method on the Disinfection of N95 Respirators: Drops versus Aerosols
Abstract The recent surge in the use of filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic triggered economic and environmental concerns with regards to their safe reuse and/or disposal. Their decontamination through ultraviolet (UV) irradiation has proven efficient in bench tests...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer
2023-09-01
|
| Series: | Aerosol and Air Quality Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.230018 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1823862848525172736 |
|---|---|
| author | Mirna Alameddine Oluchi Okoro Loïc Wingert Geneviève Marchand Benoit Barbeau |
| author_facet | Mirna Alameddine Oluchi Okoro Loïc Wingert Geneviève Marchand Benoit Barbeau |
| author_sort | Mirna Alameddine |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The recent surge in the use of filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic triggered economic and environmental concerns with regards to their safe reuse and/or disposal. Their decontamination through ultraviolet (UV) irradiation has proven efficient in bench tests. Nevertheless, no study has yet investigated to what extent the decontamination method’s performance was impacted by the contamination method. In this study, Bacillus subtilis spores were inoculated in three suspensions used to contaminate coupons of FFRs via aerosols nebulisation or 2 µL drops deposition. The contaminated coupons were then exposed to UV irradiation in a monochromatic UVC lamp collimated beam reactor. The results revealed that contamination and decontamination were more efficient for drops (maximum 0.72 log losses and 3 log inactivation at 150 mJ cm−2) than for aerosols (maximum 2.47 log losses and 1.75 log inactivation at 150 mJ cm−2). Inactivation was greater in coupons contaminated using artificial saliva, followed by phosphate buffer solution, and finally artificial saliva with mucin which also presented the highest fraction of resistant spores, based on kinetic modeling. Disinfection was determined sensitive to the method of contamination (p < 0.001). However, the composition of the contaminating suspension was the most important performance predictor for decontamination by UV irradiation (p = 9.2 × 10−10). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d65296b925814302bc7846d0ab804d40 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1680-8584 2071-1409 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerosol and Air Quality Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-d65296b925814302bc7846d0ab804d402025-02-09T12:22:23ZengSpringerAerosol and Air Quality Research1680-85842071-14092023-09-01231111210.4209/aaqr.230018Impact of the Contamination Method on the Disinfection of N95 Respirators: Drops versus AerosolsMirna Alameddine0Oluchi Okoro1Loïc Wingert2Geneviève Marchand3Benoit Barbeau4Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique MontréalDepartment of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique MontréalDepartment of Chemical and Biological Hazard Prevention, Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en Santé et Sécurité du TravailDepartment of Chemical and Biological Hazard Prevention, Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en Santé et Sécurité du TravailDepartment of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique MontréalAbstract The recent surge in the use of filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic triggered economic and environmental concerns with regards to their safe reuse and/or disposal. Their decontamination through ultraviolet (UV) irradiation has proven efficient in bench tests. Nevertheless, no study has yet investigated to what extent the decontamination method’s performance was impacted by the contamination method. In this study, Bacillus subtilis spores were inoculated in three suspensions used to contaminate coupons of FFRs via aerosols nebulisation or 2 µL drops deposition. The contaminated coupons were then exposed to UV irradiation in a monochromatic UVC lamp collimated beam reactor. The results revealed that contamination and decontamination were more efficient for drops (maximum 0.72 log losses and 3 log inactivation at 150 mJ cm−2) than for aerosols (maximum 2.47 log losses and 1.75 log inactivation at 150 mJ cm−2). Inactivation was greater in coupons contaminated using artificial saliva, followed by phosphate buffer solution, and finally artificial saliva with mucin which also presented the highest fraction of resistant spores, based on kinetic modeling. Disinfection was determined sensitive to the method of contamination (p < 0.001). However, the composition of the contaminating suspension was the most important performance predictor for decontamination by UV irradiation (p = 9.2 × 10−10).https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.230018Filtering facepiece respiratorsUV irradiationArtificial salivaKinetic modeling |
| spellingShingle | Mirna Alameddine Oluchi Okoro Loïc Wingert Geneviève Marchand Benoit Barbeau Impact of the Contamination Method on the Disinfection of N95 Respirators: Drops versus Aerosols Aerosol and Air Quality Research Filtering facepiece respirators UV irradiation Artificial saliva Kinetic modeling |
| title | Impact of the Contamination Method on the Disinfection of N95 Respirators: Drops versus Aerosols |
| title_full | Impact of the Contamination Method on the Disinfection of N95 Respirators: Drops versus Aerosols |
| title_fullStr | Impact of the Contamination Method on the Disinfection of N95 Respirators: Drops versus Aerosols |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of the Contamination Method on the Disinfection of N95 Respirators: Drops versus Aerosols |
| title_short | Impact of the Contamination Method on the Disinfection of N95 Respirators: Drops versus Aerosols |
| title_sort | impact of the contamination method on the disinfection of n95 respirators drops versus aerosols |
| topic | Filtering facepiece respirators UV irradiation Artificial saliva Kinetic modeling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.230018 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mirnaalameddine impactofthecontaminationmethodonthedisinfectionofn95respiratorsdropsversusaerosols AT oluchiokoro impactofthecontaminationmethodonthedisinfectionofn95respiratorsdropsversusaerosols AT loicwingert impactofthecontaminationmethodonthedisinfectionofn95respiratorsdropsversusaerosols AT genevievemarchand impactofthecontaminationmethodonthedisinfectionofn95respiratorsdropsversusaerosols AT benoitbarbeau impactofthecontaminationmethodonthedisinfectionofn95respiratorsdropsversusaerosols |