Re-use of health masks after autoclaving

With the rapid global spread of the new coronavirus and risk of pneumonia from COVID-19 infection, wearing a mask has become an essential defense for all frontline doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals. Plus, the rise in demand for masks from the general public means the worldwide supply of masks is insufficient, which has led to an increase in the reuse of disposable masks. Therefore, this study compared the impact of autoclaving (steaming) and 70% ethyl alcohol treatment for decontaminating masks, as both methods can easily be used at home. The autoclaved masks showed a better filtration efficiency than the 70% ethyl alcohol-treated masks. A further investigation of 8 used KF 94 masks (filtration efficiency >94%) also showed that autoclaving for decontamination was limited to two times. Moreover, a kitchen towel mask, a popular homemade alternative, did not show sufficient filtration efficiency. •New coronavirus infection pandemic requires respiratory protection such as mask.•Eight masks having filtration efficiency >94% were tested for reuse.•Masks can be decontaminated by autoclaved and reused further.•Filtration efficiency was maintained up to 2 periods of autoclaving.