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

The respirator facepiece models examined in this study represent those most frequently used at our institutions and local healthcare systems. These models include six types with a range of characteristics, including surgical N95 respirators (no exhalation valve to maintain sterile field), and non-surgical N95 respirators with an exhalation valve. These characteristics are summarized in Table 1 , and illustrated visually in Supplementary Figure 1 . In order to confirm respirator fitness for inclusion in this study, we first tested whether each respirator type could be fitted with experienced test subjects and test administrators. Several respirator models (listed in Table 1 )