Allegheny Health Network Reusing Protective Respiratory Masks

PITTSBURGH, PA - Allegheny Health Network is now reusing N95 protective respiratory masks after beginning a new sterilization process recently approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Disposable masks such as N-95s usually aren't permitted to be reused. But a supply shortage triggered by the coronavirus outbreak prompted the Federal Food and Drug Administration to temporarily allow health care providers to sterilize the masks for reuse using in-house equipment typically used to decontaminate surgical tools and instruments.

“Re-using the N95 respirators produces a number of benefits,” said Hope Waltenbaugh, the health network's vice president or surgical services.

“First and foremost, it prolongs the life of our masks and helps to ensure that our front-line caregivers are always protected. It also cuts down on hospital waste, and potentially opens the door to sterilizing and re-processing other types of masks, or other forms of personal protective equipment.”

Used masks delivered to the hospital’s central sterilization department are inspected for wear and tear and any damaged masks are discarded. Masks selected for reuse are sealed into sterilizing peel-pack envelopes and loaded into the sterilization machine that can accommodate 40 masks per load. Before the masks are sterilized, they're tagged with a tape strip, to mark it as a recycled mask.

Each load takes about 45 minutes to complete, and each machine can sterilize about 15 loads per day, using hydrogen peroxide vapor. Previous studies conducted by Duke University and others have demonstrated that N95 respirators still meet performance requirements even after 50 decontaminations with this process.

The N95 masks can be recycled twice before being discarded. The health network hopes that it will eventually be able to recycle more than 80 percent of its N95 masks.