Disinfecting N95 Respirators with Lucentᵘᵛ
The CDC recently released guidance on using Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) for the decontamination of N95 Respirators. The heatlhcare industry is pleased to see the CDC showing UVGI resulting in a ≥99.9% virus inactivation of SARS-CoV, a near-relative of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). There have not yet been results against SARS-CoV-2, likely due to its recency and novelty.
"UVGI is a promising method but the disinfection efficacy is dependent on dose. Not all UV lamps provide the same intensity thus treatment times would have to be adjusted accordingly. Moreover, UVGI is unlikely to kill all the viruses and bacteria on an FFR due to shadow effects produced by the multiple layers of the FFR’s construction. Acceptable filtration performance was recorded for eleven FFR models exposed to various UV doses ranging from roughly 0.5–950 J/cm2 and UVGI was shown to have minimal effect on fit [2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10]. Heimbuch et al. tested filtration and fit of 15 FFRs and found no adverse effects to FFR performance [11]. Lindsley et al. reported a reduction of the durability of materials of the FFRs for doses ranging from 120–950 J/cm2; however, an approximate inactivation of 99.9% of bacteriophage MS2, a non-enveloped virus, and H1N1 influenza A/PR/8/34 were achieved with much lower doses of approximately 1 J/cm2 [12–14]. Heimbuch et al. tested the performance of 1 J/cm2 of UVGI against Influenza A (H1N1), Avian influenza A virus (H5N1), Influenza A (H7N9) A/Anhui/1/2013, Influenza A (H7N9) A/Shanghai/1/2013, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV and reported virus inactivation from 99.9% to greater than 99.999% [11]. UVGI is harmful. Proper precautions are required to avoid UVGI exposure to skin or the eyes." –– CDC guidance on UV Germicidal Irradiation for Decontamination and Reuse of Filtering Facepiece Respirators (i.e. N95 Respirators)
According to the CDC, UVGI successfully decontaminated the following N95 Respirators:
| 3M 1860 |
| 3M 1870 |
| 3M 8000 |
| 3M 8210 |
| 3M 9210 |
| 3M Vflex 1805 |
| Alpha protech |
| Cardinal Health |
| Gerson 1730 |
| Kimberly Clark PFR-95 |
| Moldex 1512 |
| Moldex 1712 |
| Moldex 2200 |
| Moldex 2201 |
| Precept 65-3395 |
| Prestige Ameritech RP88020 |
| Sperian HC-NB095 |
| Sperian HC-NB295 |
| U.S. Safety AD2N95A |
| U.S. Safety AD4N95A |
| 3M 8293 |
| Moldex 2360 |
| North 8150 |