
Abstract Background There is global shortage of Personal Protective Equipment due to COVID-19 pandemic. N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators (N95-FFRs) provide respiratory protection against respiratory pathogens including SARS-COV-2. There is scant literature on reprocessing methods which can enable reuse of N95-FFRs. Aim We conducted this study to evaluate research done, prior to COVID-19 pandemic, on various decontamination methods for reprocessing of N95-FFRs. Methods We searched 5 electronic databases (Pubmed, Google Scholar, Crossref, Ovid, ScienceDirect) and 1 Grey literature database (OpenGrey). We included original studies, published prior to year 2020, which had evaluated any decontamination method on FFRs. Studies had evaluated a reprocessing method against parameters namely physical changes, user acceptability, respirator fit, filter efficiency, microbicidal efficacy and presence of chemical residues post-reprocessing. Findings and Conclusions Overall, we found 7887 records amongst which 17 original research articles were finally included for qualitative analysis. Overall, 21 different types of decontamination or reprocessing methods for N95-FFRs were evaluated. Most commonly evaluated method for reprocessing of FFRs was Ultraviolet (Type-C) irradiation (UVGI) which was evaluated in 13/17 (76%) studies. We found published literature is scant on this topic despite warning signs of pandemic of a respiratory illness over the years. Promising technologies requiring expeditious evaluation are UVGI, Microwave generated steam (MGS) and Hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV). Global presence of technologies, which have been given Emergency use authorisation for N95-FFR reprocessing, is extremely limited. Reprocessing of N95-FFRs by MGS should be considered for emergency implementation in resource limited settings to tackle shortage of N95-FFRs. Systematic Review Identifier PROSPERO, PROSPERO ID: CRD42020189684, ( https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020189684 )
Equipment Safety, SARS-CoV-2, Ultraviolet Rays, Science, Q, Pneumonia, Viral, R, Masks, COVID-19, Hydrogen Peroxide, Disinfection, Betacoronavirus, Steam, Equipment Reuse, Medicine, Humans, Respiratory Protective Devices, Coronavirus Infections, Microwaves, Pandemics, Decontamination, Research Article
Equipment Safety, SARS-CoV-2, Ultraviolet Rays, Science, Q, Pneumonia, Viral, R, Masks, COVID-19, Hydrogen Peroxide, Disinfection, Betacoronavirus, Steam, Equipment Reuse, Medicine, Humans, Respiratory Protective Devices, Coronavirus Infections, Microwaves, Pandemics, Decontamination, Research Article
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 24 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
