Scalable, effective, and rapid decontamination of SARS-CoV-2 contaminated N95 respirators using germicidal ultra-violet C (UVC) irradiation device

Rathnasinghe, Raveen; Karlicek, R. F.; Schotsaert, Michael; Koffas, Mattheos A. G.; Arduini, Brigitte L.; Jangra, Sonia; Wang, Bowen; Davis, Jason L; Alnaggar, Mohammed; Costa, Anthony; Vincent, Richard L.; Garcı́a-Sastre, Adolfo; Vashishth, Deepak; Balchandani, Priti

doi:10.1101/2020.10.05.20206953

Cited by 16 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Considering the studies in the SLR’s final database, 31 studies [ 1 , 6 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 85 ], representing 53.45% of the SLR database, attest to UV-C’s germicidal capability, as they find results of at least 3-log reduction using different biological indicators, conditions, and setups. These studies present results using UV-C as a single method of sterilization.…”

Section: Uv-c’s Germicidal Capabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ultraviolet-C is normally regarded as a low-cost reprocessing method. From the SLR’s final sample, most publications used either adapted biosafety [ 6 , 49 , 50 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 61 , 83 ] or sterilization [ 33 , 56 , 86 ] cabinets; adapted chambers [ 7 , 39 , 43 , 48 , 64 , 66 , 75 , 78 ], rooms [ 51 , 68 , 69 , 85 ] or laminar flow cabinets [ 43 , 71 , 80 , 82 ]; the lamps alone [ 38 , 40 , 46 , 52 , 54 , 63 , 79 , 87 ] or tube racks [ 70 ]. Most of these resources are available in research departments or hospitals; making this method “reasonably (…) inexpensive” [ 7 ] (p. 515) or, at least, “a cost-effective alternative to heat or chemical decontamination” [ 69 ] (pp.…”

Section: Uv-c’s Additional Advantagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considering that UVGI methods are of high throughput, this advantage is not mentioned by every study. Assuming that most studies use small chambers [ 7 , 39 , 43 , 48 , 64 , 66 , 75 , 78 ], biosafety [ 6 , 50 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 61 , 83 ] or sterilization [ 33 , 56 , 86 ] cabinets, this could partially hinder this advantage, as SUPPE cannot be stacked (piled up) [ 47 , 76 ].…”

Section: Uv-c’s Additional Advantagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although some publications [ 7 , 41 , 57 ] argue that reaching high throughput depends on adapting their systems’ setups, which increases their processes’ agility and consequently their throughput per round, finally, some studies [ 39 , 44 , 67 , 72 , 73 ] indicate an actual number of masks and FFRs disinfected per round. These numbers depend on the area each mask model has and the irradiated area the system has.…”

Section: Uv-c’s Additional Advantagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ultraviolet-C as a Viable Reprocessing Method for Disposable Masks and Filtering Facepiece Respirators

2021

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In normal conditions, discarding single-use personal protective equipment after use is the rule for its users due to the possibility of being infected, particularly for masks and filtering facepiece respirators. When the demand for these protective tools is not satisfied by the companies supplying them, a scenario of shortages occurs, and new strategies must arise. One possible approach regards the disinfection of these pieces of equipment, but there are multiple methods. Analyzing these methods, Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) becomes an exciting option, given its germicidal capability. This paper aims to describe the state-of-the-art for UV-C sterilization in masks and filtering facepiece respirators. To achieve this goal, we adopted a systematic literature review in multiple databases added to a snowball method to make our sample as robust as possible and encompass a more significant number of studies. We found that UV-C’s germicidal capability is just as good as other sterilization methods. Combining this characteristic with other advantages makes UV-C sterilization desirable compared to other methods, despite its possible disadvantages.

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Section: Uv-c’s Germicidal Capabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Uv-c’s Additional Advantagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Uv-c’s Additional Advantagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Uv-c’s Additional Advantagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Ultraviolet-C as a Viable Reprocessing Method for Disposable Masks and Filtering Facepiece Respirators

2021

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“…The four major structural proteins include the spike surface glycoprotein (S) ( 31 ), envelope protein (E) ( 32 ), membrane (M) ( 33 ) and nucleocapsid protein (N) ( 34 ). Recent studies have revealed six major NSP subtypes, including nsp3 ( 35 ), nsp4 ( 36 ), nsp6 ( 37 ), nsp12 ( 38 ), nsp13 ( 39 ) and nsp14 ( 38 ) for SARS-CoV-2. Spike proteins of viruses bind to host cell receptors for entry.…”

Section: Structure Genome Size and Life Cycle Of Sars-cov-2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Approaches towards fighting the COVID‑19 pandemic (Review)

Tsai

Bau

et al. 2020

Int J Mol Med

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (cOVId-19) outbreak, which has caused >46 millions confirmed infections and >1.2 million coronavirus related deaths, is one of the most devastating worldwide crises in recent years. Infection with COVID-19 results in a fever, dry cough, general fatigue, respiratory symptoms, diarrhoea and a sore throat, similar to those of acute respiratory distress syndrome. The causative agent of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, is a novel coronavirus strain. To date, remdesivir has been granted emergency use authorization for use in the management of infection. Additionally, several efficient diagnostic tools are being actively developed, and novel drugs and vaccines are being evaluated for their efficacy as therapeutic agents against COVID-19, or in the prevention of infection. The present review highlights the prevalent clinical manifestations of COVID-19, characterizes the SARS-CoV-2 viral genome sequence and life cycle, highlights the optimal methods for preventing viral transmission, and discusses possible molecular pharmacological mechanisms and approaches in the development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic agents. In addition, the use of traditional Chinese medicines for management of COVID-19 is discussed. It is expected that novel anti-viral agents, vaccines or an effective combination therapy for treatment/management of SARS-CoV-2 infection and spread therapy will be developed and implemented in 2021, and we would like to extend our best regards to the frontline health workers across the world in their fight against cOVId-19. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 3. Structure, genome size and life cycle of SARS-CoV-2 4. Diagnostic methods for COVID-19 5. Methods to prevent cOVId-19 6. Current therapeutic modalities for COVID-19 7. Pharmacological agents targeting thrombosis 8. Neutralizing antibodies and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 9. TcM and cOVId-19 10. conclusions

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Principles and practice for SARS-CoV-2 decontamination of N95 masks with UV-C

Huber

Goldman

Epstein

et al. 2021

Biophysical Journal

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A mainstay of personal protective equipment during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is the N95 filtering facepiece respirator. N95 respirators are commonly used to protect healthcare workers from respiratory pathogens, including the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and are increasingly employed by other frontline workers and the general public. Under routine circumstances, these masks are disposable, single-use items, but extended use and reuse practices have been broadly enacted to alleviate critical supply shortages during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Although extended-time single use presents a low risk of pathogen transfer, repeated donning and doffing of potentially contaminated masks presents increased risk of pathogen transfer. Therefore, efficient and safe decontamination methods for N95 masks are needed to reduce the risk of reuse and mitigate local supply shortages. Here, we review the available literature concerning use of germicidal ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light to decontaminate N95 masks. We propose a practical method for repeated point-of-use decontamination using commercially available UV-C cross-linker boxes from molecular biology laboratories to expose each side of the mask to 800-1200 mJ/cm 2 of UV-C. We measure the dose that penetrated to the interior of the respirators and model the potential germicidal action on coronaviruses. Our experimental results, in combination with modeled data, suggest that such a UV-C treatment cycle should induce a >3-log-order reduction in viral bioburden on the surface of the respirators and a 2-log-order reduction throughout the interior. We find that a dose 50-fold greater does not impair filtration or fit of 3M 8210 N95 masks, indicating that decontamination can be performed repeatedly. As such, UV-C germicidal irradiation is a practical strategy for small-scale point-of-use decontamination of N95s.

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Scalable, effective, and rapid decontamination of SARS-CoV-2 contaminated N95 respirators using germicidal ultra-violet C (UVC) irradiation device

Cited by 16 publications

References 25 publications

Ultraviolet-C as a Viable Reprocessing Method for Disposable Masks and Filtering Facepiece Respirators

Ultraviolet-C as a Viable Reprocessing Method for Disposable Masks and Filtering Facepiece Respirators

Approaches towards fighting the COVID‑19 pandemic (Review)

Principles and practice for SARS-CoV-2 decontamination of N95 masks with UV-C

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