PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Edward P Manning
AU  - Matthew D Stephens
AU  - Sylvie Dufresne
AU  - Bruce Silver
AU  - Patricia Gerbarg
AU  - Zach Gerbarg
AU  - Charles S Dela Cruz
AU  - Lokesh Sharma
TI  - Disinfection of <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em> from N95 respirators with ozone: a pilot study
AID  - 10.1136/bmjresp-2020-000781
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - BMJ Open Respiratory Research
PG  - e000781
VI  - 8
IP  - 1
4099  - http://bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/8/1/e000781.short
4100  - http://bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/8/1/e000781.full
SO  - BMJ Open Resp Res2021 Jan 01; 8
AB  - Introduction Personal protective equipment shortages require the reuse of N95 respirators. We sought the necessary conditions for ozone to disinfect N95 respirators for reuse and the effects of multiple cycles of exposure.Methods Portions of 3M 1870 N95 respirators were exposed to ozone at 400 ppm with 80% humidity for 2 hours to determine effectiveness of ozone on killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Entire 3M 1870 N95 respirators were exposed to five cycles of 400 ppm with 80% or higher humidity for 2 hours then evaluated for ozone’s effects on airflow resistance, filtration efficiency, strap strength and quantitative fit.Results Ozone exposure disinfected 3M 1870 N95 respirators heavily inoculated with P. aeruginosa. Ozone exposure did not negatively affect the airflow resistance, filtration efficiency, strap strength or fit of the 3M 1870 N95 respirator.Discussion These results suggest that ozone is a feasible strategy to disinfect N95 respirators for reuse during this and future pandemics.