Vapourized hydrogen peroxide decontamination in a hospital setting inactivates SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-229E without compromising filtration efficiency of unexpired N95 respirators

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.07.012
• Publication Date: 2021-07-25T13:25:08Z
• Authors: Natasha Christie-...; Rachel Tyli; Patrick Budylowski; Furkan Guvenc; Amit Weiner; Betty Poon; Mary Speck; Stephenie Naugler; Allen Rainville; Ayoob Ghalami; Shannon McCaw; Steven Hayes; Samira Mubareka; Scott D. Gray-Owen; Ori D. Rotstein; Rita A. Kandel; James A. Scott
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; N95 Respirators; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Hydrogen Peroxide; Hospitals; 3. Good health; Disinfection; 03 medical and health sciences; Coronavirus 229E, Human; Major Article; Equipment Reuse; Humans; Pandemics; Decontamination

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for evidence-based approaches to decontamination and reuse of N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs). We sought to determine whether vapourized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) reduced SARS-CoV-2 bioburden on FFRs without compromising filtration efficiency. We also investigated coronavirus HCoV-229E as a surrogate for decontamination validation testing.N95 FFRs were laced with SARS-CoV-2 or HCoV-229E and treated with VHP in a hospital reprocessing facility. After sterilization, viral burden was determined using viral outgrowth in a titration assay, and filtration efficiency of FFRs was tested against ATSM F2299 and NIOSH TEB-STP-APR-0059.Viable SARS-CoV-2 virus was not detected after VHP treatment. One replicate of the HCoV-229E laced FFRs yielded virus after processing. Unexpired N95 FFRs retained full filtration efficiency after VHP processing. Expired FFRs failed to meet design-specified filtration efficiency and therefore are unsuitable for reprocessing.In-hospital VHP is an effective decontaminant for SARS-CoV-2 on FFRs. Further, filtration efficiency of unexpired respirators is not affected by this decontamination process.VHP is effective in inactivating SARS-CoV-2 on FFRs without compromising filtration efficiency. HCoV-229E is a suitable surrogate for SARS-CoV-2 for disinfection studies.