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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

#101

Post by mariushn »

Xcelerate wrote: post #95

I have a set of N99 masks that I just rotate over a period of about a week in brown paper bags. If you don’t have enough masks for that, I imagine a sous vide machine (like the Joule) would work. Just seal the mask in a plastic bag and place under water for the appropriate amount of time. These things hold very precise temperatures.

> I just rotate over a period of about a week in brown paper bags.

Why the brown paper bags? Do these ensure better evaporation?

Wouldn't simply keeping the mask somewhere kill the virus in 3-4 days? Or, what would be the best way to ensure this within 3-4 days without any damage to the mask?

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

#102

Post by tridentlead »

seunosewa wrote: post #99
foobiekr wrote: post #57

Related: can anyone explain why there are still no n95 masks available? It seems like, a few months in, it's surprising that there are none available for non-medical buyers. Is this perception wrong?

KN95 masks are comparable to n95 masks in their filtration efficiency and you can order them from online stores like Amazon. The continued scarcity of n95 masks in the US has to do with an incompetent/malicious federal government’s failure/refusal to incentivize massive local production of masks, and a constant increase in demand by hospitals because of the rising number of cases.

The KN95 specification is comparable to the N95 specification. But KN95 masks as a class of real things are often not comparable to N95 masks.

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

#103

Post by quicklime »

pushswap wrote: post #87
noelsusman wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not widely available to non-medical buyers because they're still not easily attainable for medical buyers. N95s aren't the easiest thing to manufacturer, so ramping up production to fully satisfy current demand would require a significant investment in time and capital. Companies aren't going to do that without some certainty that they'll actually be able to sell enough of their extra production to cover the…

My company tried donating 120 boxes of 3M N95 masks to our major local hospitals at the beginning of the pandemic. We only asked that the expense would not be charged to patients directly or indirectly. None of the hospitals accepted the masks based on the no indirect billing part.

I can see why they would refuse to do this. The effort of tracking which masks were donated vs which to charge for, would be significant.

Who’s going to track which patient was treated by staff wearing donated masks, and which were not?

And if medical staff were working with multiple patients while wearing the same mask, would they have to split the discount for a $1 mask up between patients?

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

#104

Post by masklinn »

weaksauce wrote: post #56
masklinn wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also wondering, IIRC rice cookers rely on the temperature of the pot not exceeding 100C until all the water has evaporated (which is why getting the correct rice/water amount is important). Without any water in the container I would expect the pot to quickly exceed 100C and shut off. Mine certainly seems to provide no way to maintain such a temperature, I'd guess it'd just switch to "keep warm" and AFAIK that's n…

the cheap rice cookers use a temperature switch that triggers after it reaches a bit over 100C yes.

What do more expensive cookers use? A timer sounds more simplistic than a temperature sensor, are they mixing the temperature information with something else?

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

#105

Post by distances »

seunosewa wrote: post #99
foobiekr wrote: post #57

Related: can anyone explain why there are still no n95 masks available? It seems like, a few months in, it's surprising that there are none available for non-medical buyers. Is this perception wrong?

KN95 masks are comparable to n95 masks in their filtration efficiency and you can order them from online stores like Amazon. The continued scarcity of n95 masks in the US has to do with an incompetent/malicious federal government’s failure/refusal to incentivize massive local production of masks, and a constant increase in demand by hospitals because of the rising number of cases.

With Amazon's reputation I would be extremely hesitant to order anything health related from them. I'd greatly prefer a store with clear supply lines and no comingling.

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

#106

Post by distances »

everybodyknows wrote: post #33

SARS Cov-2 infectiousness decays exponentially, with the time constant a function of temperature and humidity. A two-parameter calculator: https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/sars-calculator

Would it be wrong to infer from this that letting a face mask sit in room temperature for a week is almost guaranteed to make it safe for use again?

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

#107

Post by rladd »

noelsusman wrote: post #61
foobiekr wrote: post #57

Related: can anyone explain why there are still no n95 masks available? It seems like, a few months in, it's surprising that there are none available for non-medical buyers. Is this perception wrong?

They're not widely available to non-medical buyers because they're still not easily attainable for medical buyers. N95s aren't the easiest thing to manufacturer, so ramping up production to fully satisfy current demand would require a significant investment in time and capital. Companies aren't going to do that without some certainty that they'll actually be able to sell enough of their extra production to cover the…

Are you guys disinfecting?

If so, which method are you using?

If not, why not?

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

#108

Post by distances »

jasonjayr wrote: post #91
matt-attack wrote: post #90

Can someone explain why you can’t just have three masks, and circulate through them? We’ve been told that the virus dies after 3 days just sitting there. Why do I need to decontaminate it ad in TFA? I don’t get it.

There are other things other than SARS-CoV-2 that can get trapped in those masks that ought to be decontaminated by some means.

Such as? Anything I wouldn't be inhaling in normal circumstances anyway?

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

#109

Post by distances »

mypalmike wrote: post #48
coding123 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What's the plastic bag for? Seems like a good way to promote bacterial and fungal growth.

I'm using open plastic bags for avoiding touching the mask itself. I figure there's enough air circulation when I let the bag sit open on a shelf. Granted a paper bag could be better.

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

#110

Post by exabrial »

My big concern is modifying the electrostatic properties of the fibers which is how much larger fibers stop much smaller particles (order of 10x-100x). It looks like moderate heat and no humidity in this study didn't have those effects. Hoping this can be peer reviewed soon!
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