Researchers find cheap, easy way to disinfect N95 masks

A small amount of methylene blue, with a large dose of sunlight or bright light, is all that’s needed to inactivate the coronavirus on N95 masks. These are the gold standard for masks among health-care workers. This method also works on some other personal protection equipment, or PPE, so needed by medical workers, a new study released December 11 concluded.

The findings were part of a 6-month-long DeMaND study (Development of Methods for Mask and N95 Decontamination), which involves researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from the World Health Organization, and from 12 institutions, including the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

“This is a valuable tool to health-care workers in low or medium-income countries, who don’t have access to either refrigeration or highly technical means of sterilization,” said Dr. Thomas Lendvay, lead author of the study. Lendvay is a UW Medicine urologist and also a pediatric urologist with Seattle Children’s Hospital.

For more information: https://newsroom.uw.edu/news/researchers-find-cheap-easy-way-disinfect-n95-masks

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