Alternative Qualitative Fit Testing Method for N95 Equivalent Respirators in the Setting of Resource Scarcity at the George Washington University

Destie Provenzano; Yuan James Rao; Konstantin Mitic; Sofian N Obaid; Jeffrey Berger; Sharad Goyal; Murray H Loew

These results suggest similar tests could be used to rapidly prototype and fit N95 comparable respirators outside of a clinical environment due to the shortage of PPE, personnel, and access to clinical grade fit testing. It should be emphasized that after passing the protocol described in this study, clinical fit testing should still be performed and passed before N95 equivalent masks or respirators are put into use with COVID 19 positive patients. However, this study does allow for rapid testing and cycling of designs and may speed development of PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic in the setting of resource limitations. 5.0 Conclusion: Aerosols created using a nebulizer and an easily sourced saccharin solution were able to be used to test the fit of several different N95 equivalent and non-equivalent masks and respirators. This could provide a valuable non-clinical grade evaluation of N95 respirators to rapidly develop PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic. We strongly suggest validation of masks and respirators with OSHA approved fit testing prior to use in a clinical environment.