The current COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in globally constrained supplies for face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE). Production capacity is limited in many countries and the future course of the pandemic will likely continue with shortages for high quality masks and PPE in the foreseeable future. Hence, expectations are that mask reuse, extended wear and similar approaches will enhance the availability of personal protective measures. Repeated thermal disinfection could be an important option and likely easier implemented in some situations, at least on the small scale, than UV illumination, irradiation or hydrogen peroxide vapor exposure. An overview on thermal responses and ongoing filtration performance of multiple face mask types is provided. Most masks have adequate material properties to survive a few cycles (i.e. 30 min disinfection steps) of thermal exposure in the 75°C regime. Some are more easily affected, as seen by the fusing of plastic liner or warping, given that preferred conditioning temperatures are near the softening point for some of the plastics and fibers used in these masks. Hence adequate temperature control is equally important. As guidance, disinfectants sprayed via dilute solutions maintain a surface presence over extended time at 25 and 37°C. Some spray-on alcohol-based solutions containing disinfectants were gently applied to the top surface of masks. Neither moderate thermal aging (less than 24 h at 80 and 95°C) nor gentle application of surface disinfectant sprays resulted in measurable loss of mask filter performance. Subject to bio-medical concurrence (additional checks for virus kill efficiency) and the use of low risk non-toxic disinfectants, such strategies, either individually or combined, by offering additional anti-viral properties or short term refreshing, may complement reuse options of professional masks or the now ubiquitous custom-made face masks with their often unknown filtration effectiveness.

当前的 COVID-19 大流行导致全球口罩和个人防护装备 (PPE) 的供应受到限制。许多国家的生产能力有限，在可预见的将来，疫情可能会持续下去，高质量口罩和个人防护装备将出现短缺。因此，人们期望口罩的重复使用、延长佩戴和类似的方法将提高个人防护措施的可用性。重复热消毒可能是一个重要的选择，并且在某些情况下（至少在小规模上）可能比紫外线照射、辐射或过氧化氢蒸汽暴露更容易实施。提供了多种面罩类型的热响应和持续过滤性能的概述。大多数口罩具有足够的材料特性，可以承受 75°C 条件下的几个热暴露周期（即 30 分钟消毒步骤）。考虑到这些口罩中使用的某些塑料和纤维的首选调节温度接近软化点，有些更容易受到影响，如塑料衬里的熔化或翘曲所示。因此，适当的温度控制同样重要。作为指导，通过稀释溶液喷洒的消毒剂可在 25 和 37°C 的温度下长时间保持表面存在。将一些含有消毒剂的喷雾酒精溶液轻轻地涂抹在口罩的上表面。适度的热老化（在 80 和 95°C 下少于 24 小时）和温和的表面消毒喷雾剂的应用都不会导致面罩过滤性能的明显损失。 在生物医学一致性（对病毒杀灭效率进行额外检查）和使用低风险无毒消毒剂的情况下，此类策略，无论是单独还是组合，通过提供额外的抗病毒特性或短期刷新，可以补充重复使用的选择专业口罩或现在无处不在的定制口罩，其过滤效果往往未知。