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Scaglione E, De Falco G, Mantova G, Caturano V, Stornaiuolo A, D’Anna A, Salvatore P. An Experimental Analysis of Five Household Equipment-Based Methods for Decontamination and Reuse of Surgical Masks. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:3296. [PMID: 35328984 PMCID: PMC8952502 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19063296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The current coronavirus pandemic has increased worldwide consumption of individual protective devices. Single-use surgical masks are one of the most used devices to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Nevertheless, the improper management of such protective equipment threatens our environment with a new form of plastic pollution. With the intention of contributing to a responsible policy of recycling, in the present work, five decontamination methods for used surgical masks that can be easily replicated with common household equipment are described. The decontamination procedures were hot water at 40 °C and 80 °C; autoclave; microwave at 750 W; and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation. After each decontamination procedure, the bacterial load reduction of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 was recorded to verify the effectiveness of these methods and, moreover, bacterial filtration efficiency and breathability tests were performed to evaluate mask performances. The best results were obtained with the immersion in 80 °C water and the microwave-assisted sterilization. Both methods achieved a high degree of mask decontamination without altering the filtration efficiency and breathability, in accordance with the quality standard. The proposed decontamination methods represent a useful approach to reduce the environmental impact of this new waste material. Moreover, these procedures can be easily reproduced with common household equipment to increase the recycling efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Scaglione
- Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy; (E.S.); (G.M.); (V.C.); (A.S.); (P.S.)
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio, 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy;
- CeSMA Centro Servizi Metrologici e Tecnologici Avanzati, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80146 Napoli, Italy
| | - Gianluigi De Falco
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio, 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy;
- CeSMA Centro Servizi Metrologici e Tecnologici Avanzati, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80146 Napoli, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Mantova
- Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy; (E.S.); (G.M.); (V.C.); (A.S.); (P.S.)
- CeSMA Centro Servizi Metrologici e Tecnologici Avanzati, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80146 Napoli, Italy
| | - Valeria Caturano
- Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy; (E.S.); (G.M.); (V.C.); (A.S.); (P.S.)
- CeSMA Centro Servizi Metrologici e Tecnologici Avanzati, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80146 Napoli, Italy
| | - Alessia Stornaiuolo
- Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy; (E.S.); (G.M.); (V.C.); (A.S.); (P.S.)
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio, 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy;
- CeSMA Centro Servizi Metrologici e Tecnologici Avanzati, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80146 Napoli, Italy
| | - Andrea D’Anna
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio, 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy;
- CeSMA Centro Servizi Metrologici e Tecnologici Avanzati, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80146 Napoli, Italy
| | - Paola Salvatore
- Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy; (E.S.); (G.M.); (V.C.); (A.S.); (P.S.)
- CeSMA Centro Servizi Metrologici e Tecnologici Avanzati, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80146 Napoli, Italy
- CEINGE, Biotecnologie Avanzate s.c.ar.l., Via G. Salvatore 436, 80131 Napoli, Italy
- Task Force on Microbiome Studies, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80131Napoli, Italy
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Al-Hadyan K, Alsbeih G, Al-Harbi N, Judia SB, Al-Ghamdi M, Almousa A, Alsharif I, Bakheet R, Al-Romaih K, Al-Mozaini M, Al-Ghamdi S, Moftah B, Alhmaid R. Effect of gamma irradiation on filtering facepiece respirators and SARS-CoV-2 detection. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19888. [PMID: 34615977 PMCID: PMC8494839 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99414-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
To cope with the shortage of filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, healthcare institutions were forced to reuse FFRs after applying different decontamination methods including gamma-irradiation (GIR). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of GIR on the filtration efficiency (FE) of FFRs and on SARS-CoV-2 detection. The FE of 2 FFRs types (KN95 and N95-3 M masks) was assessed at different particle sizes (0.3-5 µm) following GIR (0-15 kGy) delivered at either typical (1.65 kGy/h) or low (0.5088 kGy/h) dose rates. The detection of two SARS-CoV-2 RNA genes (E and RdRp4) following GIR (0-50 kGy) was carried out using RT-qPCR assay. Both masks showed an overall significant (P < 0.001) reduction in FE with increased GIR doses. No significant differences were observed between GIR dose rates on FE. The GIR exhibited significant increases (P ≤ 0.001) in the cycle threshold values (ΔCt) of both genes, with no detection following high doses. In conclusion, complete degradation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be achieved by high GIR (≥ 30 kGy), suggesting its potential use in FFRs decontamination. However, GIR exhibited adverse effects on FE in dose- and particle size-dependent manners, rendering its use to decontaminate FFRs debatable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khaled Al-Hadyan
- Biomedical Physics Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Ghazi Alsbeih
- Biomedical Physics Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Najla Al-Harbi
- Biomedical Physics Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sara Bin Judia
- Biomedical Physics Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Maha Al-Ghamdi
- Biomedical Physics Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Akram Almousa
- Biomedical Physics Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ibtihaj Alsharif
- Infection and Immunity Department, KFSH&RC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Razan Bakheet
- Translational Genomics Department, KFSH&RC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Maha Al-Mozaini
- Infection and Immunity Department, KFSH&RC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Salem Al-Ghamdi
- Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology Department, KFSH&RC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Belal Moftah
- Biomedical Physics Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rashed Alhmaid
- General Corporate Consultancy Department, KFSH&RC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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