Performance of conventional and antimicrobial-treated filtering facepiece respirators challenged with biological aerosols.

This study evaluated the filtration performance of four commercially available models of National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-certified filtering facepiece respirators (FFR) against both biological and inert aerosols at a flow rate of 85 L/min. Conventional N95 and P100 FFRs and two antimicrobial (AM)-treated FFRs (an N95 and a P95, both with iodine-based AM treatments) were tested for both physical penetration (PEN(P)) and viable penetration (PEN(V)) with three different bioaerosols, including MS2 bacteriophage virus, and the spores and vegetative cells of Bacillus atrophaeus bacteria, in addition to inert sodium chloride (NaCl) aerosol. For each FFR model, the PEN(P) measured with NaCl was predictive of its MS2 PEN(P), and it was observed that spores and bacteria aerosols were also filtered similarly to the inert aerosol.

Effectiveness of three decontamination treatments against influenza virus applied to filtering facepiece respirators.

Filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) are recommended for use as precautions against airborne pathogenic microorganisms; however, during pandemics demand for FFRs may far exceed availability. Reuse of FFRs following decontamination has been proposed but few reported studies have addressed the feasibility. Concerns regarding biocidal efficacy, respirator performance post decontamination, decontamination cost, and user safety have impeded adoption of reuse measures.