Moist heat treatment of N95 masks kills virus: Study

Toronto, August 2

Scientists have found that moist heat treatment of N95 masks eliminates the virus that causes Covid-19. This could allow reuse of these scarce resources in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

According to the study, published in Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), moist heat treatment of masks for 60 min at 70 degrees Celsius in a humid condition did not damage their structure or affect function.

“A single heat treatment rendered SARS-CoV-2 undetectable in all mask samples,” the scientists, including those from the University of Toronto in Canada, wrote in the study.

“This low-cost reprocessing strategy can be applied 10 times without affecting the mask’s filtration, breathing resistance, fit and comfort, and thus may help to alleviate the global shortage during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said study co-author Gregory Borschel from the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada.

The researchers tested four common models of N95 masks at various temperatures and humidity levels to determine whether the virus could be detected on the treated masks. They assessed masks subjected to multiple cycles of thermal disinfection for structural integrity using powerful microscopes. — PTI