Zhao Zhe, Zhang Zhaobo, Lanzarini-Lopes Mariana, Sinha Shahnawaz, Rho Hojung, Herckes Pierre, Westerhoff Paul
NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-3005, United States.
School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85297-1604, United States.
Environ Sci Technol Lett. 2020 Jun 24;7(8):600-605. doi: 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00416. eCollection 2020 Jan 11.
The COVID-19 pandemic is increasing the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) worldwide, including the demand for facial masks used by healthcare workers. Disinfecting and reusing these masks may offer benefits in the short term to meet urgent demand. Germicidal ultraviolet light provides a nonchemical, easily deployable technology capable of achieving inactivation of H1N1 virus on masks. Working with N95-rated masks and nonrated surgical masks, we demonstrated that neither 254 nor 265 nm UV-C irradiation at 1 and 10 J/cm had adverse effects on the masks' ability to remove aerosolized virus-sized particles. Additional testing showed no change in polymer structure, morphology, or surface hydrophobicity for multiple layers in the masks and no change in pressure drop or tensile strength of the mask materials. Results were similar when applying 254 nm low-pressure UV lamps and 265 nm light-emitting diodes. On the basis of the input from healthcare workers and our findings, a treatment system and operational manual were prepared to enable treatment and reuse of N95 facial masks. Knowledge gained during this study can inform techno-economic analyses for treating and reusing masks or lifecycle assessments of options to reduce the enormous waste production of single-use PPE used in the healthcare system, especially during pandemics.
新冠疫情使全球对个人防护装备（PPE）的需求不断增加，其中包括医护人员使用的口罩需求。对这些口罩进行消毒和重复使用短期内可能有助于满足紧急需求。杀菌紫外线提供了一种非化学、易于部署的技术，能够使口罩上的H1N1病毒失活。我们使用N95级口罩和非评级外科口罩进行研究，结果表明，1 J/cm²和10 J/cm²的254 nm及265 nm紫外线C照射均不会对口罩去除气溶胶化病毒大小颗粒的能力产生不利影响。进一步测试表明，口罩多层结构的聚合物结构、形态或表面疏水性没有变化，口罩材料的压降或拉伸强度也没有变化。使用254 nm低压紫外线灯和265 nm发光二极管时结果相似。根据医护人员的反馈和我们的研究结果，我们制定了一个处理系统和操作手册，以便对N95口罩进行处理和重复使用。本研究中获得的知识可为口罩处理和重复使用的技术经济分析提供参考，或为减少医疗系统中一次性个人防护装备巨大浪费的选项进行生命周期评估提供参考，尤其是在疫情期间。
