Shortages of N95 respirators for use by medical personnel have driven consideration of novel conservation strategies, including decontamination for reuse and extended use. Decontamination methods listed as promising by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (vaporous hydrogen peroxide (VHP), wet heat, ultraviolet irradiation (UVI)) and several methods considered for low resource environments (bleach, isopropyl alcohol and detergent/soap) were studied for two commonly used surgical N95 respirators (3M™ 1860 and 1870+ Aura™). Although N95 filtration performance depends on the electrostatically charged electret filtration layer, the impact of decontamination on this layer is largely unexplored. As such, respirator performance following decontamination was assessed based on the fit, filtration efficiency, and pressure drop, along with the relationship between (1) surface charge of the electret layer, and (2) elastic properties of the straps. Decontamination with VHP, wet heat, UVI, and bleach did not degrade fit and filtration performance or electret charge. Isopropyl alcohol and soap significantly degraded fit, filtration performance, and electret charge. Pressure drop across the respirators was unchanged. Modest degradation of N95 strap elasticity was observed in mechanical fatigue testing, a model for repeated donnings and doffings. CDC recommended decontamination methods including VHP, wet heat, and UV light did not degrade N95 respirator fit or filtration performance in these tests. Extended use of N95 respirators may degrade strap elasticity, but a loss of face seal integrity should be apparent during user seal checks. NIOSH recommends performing user seal checks after every donning to detect loss of appropriate fit. Decontamination methods which degrade electret charge such as alcohols or detergents should not be used on N95 respirators. The loss of N95 performance due to electret degradation would not be apparent to a respirator user or evident during a negative pressure user seal check.

供医务人员使用的 N95 呼吸器短缺，促使人们考虑采取新颖的保护策略，包括净化以供重复使用和延长使用。疾病控制和预防中心 (CDC) 列出的有前途的净化方法（蒸气过氧化氢 (VHP)、湿热、紫外线照射 (UVI)）以及考虑用于低资源环境的几种方法（漂白剂、异丙醇和洗涤剂/肥皂） ）针对两种常用的外科 N95 呼吸器（3M™ 1860 和 1870+ Aura™）进行了研究。尽管 N95 过滤性能取决于带静电的驻极体过滤层，但净化对该层的影响在很大程度上尚未被探索。因此，根据贴合性、过滤效率和压降以及（1）驻极体层的表面电荷和（2）带子的弹性特性之间的关系来评估净化后的呼吸器性能。使用 VHP、湿热、UVI 和漂白剂净化不会降低贴合性和过滤性能或驻极体电荷。异丙醇和肥皂会显着降低贴合度、过滤性能和驻极体电荷。呼吸器的压降没有变化。在机械疲劳测试（重复穿脱模型）中观察到 N95 表带弹性适度下降。在这些测试中，CDC 推荐的净化方法（包括 VHP、湿热和紫外线）不会降低 N95 呼吸器的佩戴或过滤性能。长时间使用 N95 呼吸器可能会降低带子的弹性，但在用户密封检查期间，面部密封完整性的丧失应该是明显的。NIOSH 建议在每次佩戴后执行用户密封检查，以检测是否合适。N95 口罩不应使用会降低驻极体电荷的净化方法，例如酒精或清洁剂。由于驻极体降解而造成的 N95 性能损失对于呼吸器使用者来说并不明显，在负压用户密封检查期间也不明显。