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Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

news.illinois.edu

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Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#21

Post by bitL »

akiselev wrote: post #10
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #5

Many N95s are rated for a month (20 days) of 8 hours use. If you're only using them for a few hours a day you can stretch their life by quite a bit.

That's what I've been doing with a pack of N100s and it works fine. The problem is threefold: leaving it in a car out in the sun will quickly melt the glue holding the plastic filter to the mask, after a few uses it just quickly gets contaminated on the inside unless you're obsessive about decontamination before taking the mask off each time, and that month rating is because the plastic fibers used to make the electr…

Why don't you cycle 3-4 of them, wearing a different one each day? Viruses won't survive for longer than 3 days inside, so cycling multiple masks would solve the possible contamination issue.

Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#22

Post by clairity »

if your concern is corona, there's no need to do any of this for most people, most of the time (i.e., not a front-line worker). the likelihood of getting live corona on the mask is pretty low, and any corona that does get on the mask will die naturally overnight. certain situations like going to a party might warrant it, but in that case, just throw the mask away and use a new one next time.

if you're more worried about other bacteria and viruses, it's a little more relevant, but not much for most of us. despite the endless news coverage, it's just not worth worrying about unless you're often in elevated risk situations, like being a medical worker. just wash your hands occasionally (particularly after situations like going to the bathroom or handling raw meat).

Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#23

Post by pydry »

I bought one of these UV sanitizer boxes to sanitize my N95s: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085XZPLVS/ref=ppx_yo_dt...

I'm still not totally certain how well it really works, but I know it works better than those UV wands (you need at least a few minutes of exposure).

It's also neat for a few other things that it's probably healthy to sterilize a bit more frequently (e.g. keys, phone, toothbrush heads).

Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#24

Post by petra »

lightlyused wrote: post #11
petra wrote: post #7

Generally,the instant pot requires at least 1 cup of water when running, according to the manual. How does this work without water ?

You can put another container inside the instant pot to hold the masks. That is how you make things like cheese cake in them.

But steam may ruin the masks, and the instructions on sanitizing don't mention water.

Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#25

Post by omgwtfbyobbq »

akiselev wrote: post #10
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #5

Many N95s are rated for a month (20 days) of 8 hours use. If you're only using them for a few hours a day you can stretch their life by quite a bit.

That's what I've been doing with a pack of N100s and it works fine. The problem is threefold: leaving it in a car out in the sun will quickly melt the glue holding the plastic filter to the mask, after a few uses it just quickly gets contaminated on the inside unless you're obsessive about decontamination before taking the mask off each time, and that month rating is because the plastic fibers used to make the electr…

In my experience I haven't picked up anything because I wasn't the best about decontamination, but I have picked up something when I wore a surgical mask instead of an N95 mask.

Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#26

Post by gfodor »

clairity wrote: post #22

if your concern is corona, there's no need to do any of this for most people, most of the time (i.e., not a front-line worker). the likelihood of getting live corona on the mask is pretty low, and any corona that does get on the mask will die naturally overnight. certain situations like going to a party might warrant it, but in that case, just throw the mask away and use a new one next time. if you're more worried ab…

You make a lot of claims here about how to properly protect oneself, and as matters as important as this one, citations should be considered strictly necessary.

Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#27

Post by NeutronStar »

jefftk wrote: post #19
Falloodude wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cooking the mask ensures that microorganisms on it will die and not pose a risk to the wearer. A mask sitting around for several days can still harbor them in some cases.

I see that in general, but if we're wearing N95s specifically to protect against the coronavirus then several days seems like it should be (a) enough and (b) not as hard on the mask?

Sure for CVOID, but then you'd be exposing yourself to other microorganism that would probably not become a pandemic but still hurt you a little bit.

Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#28

Post by coding123 »

jefftk wrote: post #19
Falloodude wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cooking the mask ensures that microorganisms on it will die and not pose a risk to the wearer. A mask sitting around for several days can still harbor them in some cases.

I see that in general, but if we're wearing N95s specifically to protect against the coronavirus then several days seems like it should be (a) enough and (b) not as hard on the mask?

This is what I do. I just place it in a plastic bag and don't use it for about a week. I have enough to let me use one each day and quarantine the used mask for a week.

Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#29

Post by hbcondo714 »

pydry wrote: post #23

I bought one of these UV sanitizer boxes to sanitize my N95s: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085XZPLVS/ref=ppx_yo_dt... I'm still not totally certain how well it really works, but I know it works better than those UV wands (you need at least a few minutes of exposure). It's also neat for a few other things that it's probably healthy to sterilize a bit more frequently (e.g. keys, phone, toothbrush heads).

Yup, my wife went all out and got one of those UV sanitizer boxes[1] too along with the Under Armour face masks[2]. Their instructions say to wash it but it's convenient to just place in a box. We have also been cleaning other items in there including baby toys.

[1] https://lumolite.com/

[2] https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/p/ua-sportsmask/1368010.ht...

Re: Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds

#30

Post by BoiledCabbage »

clairity wrote: post #22

if your concern is corona, there's no need to do any of this for most people, most of the time (i.e., not a front-line worker). the likelihood of getting live corona on the mask is pretty low, and any corona that does get on the mask will die naturally overnight. certain situations like going to a party might warrant it, but in that case, just throw the mask away and use a new one next time. if you're more worried ab…

And the reasons people ask for citations is what you are saying is very misleading. The CDC estimates that 45% of US Adults fall into these increased risk categories. So no, it's not just people fighting off cancer it's almost half the country.

> We estimated that 45.4% of US adults are at increased risk for complications from coronavirus disease because of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, hypertension, or cancer. Rates increased by age, from 19.8% for persons 18–29 years of age to 80.7% for persons >80 years of age, and varied by state, race/ethnicity, health insurance status, and employment.

1. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/8/20-0679_article

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