Abstract：
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world and caused a supply shortage of personal protection equipment, especially filtering facepiece respirators (FFP). This has increased the risk of many healthcare workers contracting SARS-CoV-2. Various strategies have been assessed to tackle these supply issues. In critical shortage scenarios, reusing single-use-designed respirators may be required. Thus, an easily applicable and reliable FFP2 (or alike) respirator decontamination method, allowing safe re-use of FFP2 respirators by healthcare personnel, has been developed and is presented in this study. A potent and gentle aerosolized hydrogen peroxide (12% wt) method was applied over 4 hr to decontaminate various brands of FFP2 respirators within a small common room, followed by adequate aeration and storage overnight. The microbial efficacy was tested on unused respirator pieces using spores of Geobacillus stearothermophilus. Further, decontamination effectiveness was tested on used respirators after one 12-hr shift by swabbing before and after the decontamination. The effects of up to ten decontamination cycles on the respirators\' functionality were evaluated using material properties, the structural integrity of the respirators, and fit tests with subjects. The suggested H2O2 decontamination procedure was proven to be (a) sufficiently potent (no microbial recovery, total inactivation of biological indicators as well as spore inoculum on critical respirator surfaces), (b) gentle as no significant damage to the respirator structural integrity and acceptable fit factors were observed, and (c) safe as no H2O2 residue were detected after the defined aeration and storage. Thus, this easy-to-implement and scalable method could overcome another severe respirator shortage, providing enough flexibility to draft safe, effective, and logistically simple crisis plans. However, as highlighted in this study, due to the wealth of design and material used in different models and brands of respirators, the decontamination process should be validated for each FFP respirator model before its field implementation.
摘要：
COVID-19大流行影响了世界，并导致个人防护设备供应短缺，尤其是过滤面罩呼吸器（FFP）。这增加了许多医护人员感染SARS-CoV-2的风险。已经评估了各种策略来解决这些供应问题。在严重短缺的情况下，可能需要重复使用一次性设计的呼吸器。因此，一种易于适用且可靠的FFP2（或类似的）呼吸器去污方法，允许医护人员安全重复使用FFP2呼吸器，已经开发出来，并在本研究中提出。在4小时内使用了一种有效而温和的雾化过氧化氢（12％wt）方法，以在一个小的普通房间内净化各种品牌的FFP2呼吸器，然后是充分的曝气和储存过夜。使用嗜热脂肪土芽孢杆菌的孢子在未使用的呼吸器件上测试了微生物功效。Further,在净化前后经过12小时的擦拭后，对使用过的呼吸器进行了净化效果测试。使用材料特性评估了多达10个净化循环对呼吸器功能的影响，呼吸器的结构完整性，并与受试者进行测试。建议的H2O2净化程序被证明是（a）足够有效（没有微生物回收，生物指标的完全失活以及关键呼吸器表面的孢子接种物)，(b)温和，因为观察到呼吸器结构完整性和可接受的配合系数没有明显损坏，并且(c)安全,因为在限定的曝气和储存之后没有检测到H2O2残留物。因此，这种易于实施和可扩展的方法可以克服另一个严重的呼吸器短缺，提供足够的灵活性来起草保险箱，有效,和逻辑上简单的危机计划。然而,正如这项研究强调的那样，由于不同型号和品牌的呼吸器使用的设计和材料丰富，在现场实施之前，应对每个FFP呼吸器模型的净化过程进行验证。
