Aerosolized Hydrogen Peroxide Decontamination of N95 Respirators, with Fit-Testing and Virologic Confirmation of Suitability for Re-Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic

T. Hans Derr; Melissa A. James; Chad V. Kuny; Prem P. Kandel; Matthew D. Beckman; Kevin L. Hockett; Mark A. Bates; Moriah L Szpara

is the (which was not peer-reviewed) The copyright holder for this preprint . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.17.20068577 doi: medRxiv preprint would influence viral inactivation. We found no evidence of viral survival of aHP decontamination. During optimization of H2O2 dwell-time parameters, we found that during a failed decontamination cycle both commercial spore-based biological tests and intensive virologic testing failed in synchrony. This suggests that medical facilities seeking to use aHP decontamination protocols can rely on spore-based methods to confirm sterilization, making this technology widely applicable beyond those with facilities capable of performing virologic testing. In ongoing work on this pilot study, we plan to maximize rigor by evaluating of up to 15 rounds of decontamination, which is the maximum use advised by the US FDA for the Battelle Decontamination VHP protocol (3, 10) .