Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

  Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/h4N4_Do56qo   Heating N95 or KN95 masks to 170 ˚F for 30 minutes effectively disinfects, and you can do it up to 50 times without losing the mask’s CoVid filtration powers.  This conclusion comes from a study by 4C Air, a nanotechnology spinoff from Stanford University.   Investigators there compared various methods of cleaning medical grade masks including dry heating, steam, UV light, 75% alcohol, and chlorine bleach.  The alcohol and bleach both immediately destroyed the mask’s filtration capabilities.  Steam treatment degraded filtration function after 5 cycles of treatment.  The UVC treatment worked well for 10 cycles.   Healthcare workers and eventually all of us can recycle our N95 masks by oven heating.   https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c03597?goto=articleMetrics&ref=pdf   #covid #coronavirus #n95 #mask #disinfection #heating #uv