{"id":116020,"date":"2020-04-15T10:30:05","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T20:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=116020"},"modified":"2020-04-15T11:54:24","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T21:54:24","slug":"safely-reuse-n95-mask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/04\/15\/safely-reuse-n95-mask\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you safely reuse an N95<\/abbr> mask?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>

\"N95<\/p>\n

Hospitals nationwide are asking for facemask donations to protect frontline healthcare workers. A worldwide mask shortage has the administrators of some facilities exploring ways to reuse personal protective equipment and find a reliable method for decontamination.<\/p>\n

N95DECON<\/abbr><\/a> is a national volunteer effort focused on developing guidance for hospitals on how to decontaminate masks for reuse. N95DECON<\/abbr> is comprised of scientists, engineers, students and clinicians from the private sector and universities nationwide, including the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa College of Engineering<\/a>\u2019s Tyler Ray<\/strong>, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ray is part of a team of experts who have spent weeks combing through peer-reviewed publications and studies of decontamination methods that have been used on previous viral and bacterial pathogens, assessing the potential effectiveness of these methods on the novel SARS-CoV-2<\/abbr> virus that causes COVID-19.<\/p>\n

The team’s goal is to provide health officials with reliable scientific information about the effectiveness of various decontamination methods, should local shortages force a choice between decontamination and reuse, or going unmasked.<\/p>\n

“Better understanding the data-driven approaches for the decontamination of N95 masks is critical for decision-makers and healthcare workers facing this unprecedented shortage of personal protective equipment,” Ray said.<\/p>\n

—By Kimberly Perez Hults<\/em><\/p>\n