PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

Plasma generated ozone and reactive oxygen species for point of use PPE decontamination system.

  • Min Huang,
  • Md Kamrul Hasan,
  • Kavita Rathore,
  • Md Abdullah Hil Baky,
  • John Lassalle,
  • Jamie Kraus,
  • Matthew Burnette,
  • Christopher Campbell,
  • Kunpeng Wang,
  • Howard Jemison,
  • Suresh Pillai,
  • Matt Pharr,
  • David Staack

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262818
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 2
p. e0262818

Abstract

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This paper reports a plasma reactive oxygen species (ROS) method for decontamination of PPE (N95 respirators and gowns) using a surface DBD source to meet the increased need of PPE due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A system is presented consisting of a mobile trailer (35 m3) along with several Dielectric barrier discharge sources installed for generating a plasma ROS level to achieve viral decontamination. The plasma ROS treated respirators were evaluated at the CDC NPPTL, and additional PPE specimens and material functionality testing were performed at Texas A&M. The effects of decontamination on the performance of respirators were tested using a modified version of the NIOSH Standard Test Procedure TEB-APR-STP-0059 to determine particulate filtration efficiency. The treated Prestige Ameritech and BYD brand N95 respirators show filtration efficiencies greater than 95% and maintain their integrity. The overall mechanical and functionality tests for plasma ROS treated PPE show no significant variations.