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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsElectric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds
Source:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau
Summary:
A new study found that 50 minutes of dry heat in an electric cooker decontaminated N95 respirators inside and out while maintaining their filtration and fit. This could enable wearers to safely reuse limited supplies of the respirators.
They verified that one cooking cycle, which maintains the contents of the cooker at around 100 degrees Celsius or 212 Fahrenheit for 50 minutes, decontaminated the masks, inside and out, from four different classes of virus, including a coronavirus -- and did so more effectively than ultraviolet light. Then, they tested the filtration and fit.
"We built a chamber in my aerosol-testing lab specifically to look at the filtration of the N95 respirators, and measured particles going through it," Verma said. "The respirators maintained their filtration capacity of more than 95% and kept their fit, still properly seated on the wearer's face, even after 20 cycles of decontamination in the electric cooker."
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau
Summary:
A new study found that 50 minutes of dry heat in an electric cooker decontaminated N95 respirators inside and out while maintaining their filtration and fit. This could enable wearers to safely reuse limited supplies of the respirators.
They verified that one cooking cycle, which maintains the contents of the cooker at around 100 degrees Celsius or 212 Fahrenheit for 50 minutes, decontaminated the masks, inside and out, from four different classes of virus, including a coronavirus -- and did so more effectively than ultraviolet light. Then, they tested the filtration and fit.
"We built a chamber in my aerosol-testing lab specifically to look at the filtration of the N95 respirators, and measured particles going through it," Verma said. "The respirators maintained their filtration capacity of more than 95% and kept their fit, still properly seated on the wearer's face, even after 20 cycles of decontamination in the electric cooker."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200806164654.htm
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Electric cooker an easy, efficient way to sanitize N95 masks, study finds (Original Post)
JudyM
Aug 2020
OP
intrepidity
(7,302 posts)1. InstaPot hackers, get on this, stat
Sounds promising
procon
(15,805 posts)2. Word of caution: it isn't safe to operate an Instant Pot
or any type of pressure cooker without adding the manufacturers recommended amount of liquid.
You don't want to ruin your instant pot over a mask. Since the temp suggested is so low, maybe "cooking" your masks in something like a dry Dutch Oven placed in a low oven for the same time would be just as beneficial without the risks to your favorite appliances.
JudyM
(29,250 posts)4. Hopefully the company will put out a statement soon.
procon
(15,805 posts)5. Just read your owner's manual.
People try to do all kinds of crazy things to their pressure cookers, from deep fried chicken under pressure, to smoking meats with wood chips, even a hillbilly whiskey still.
Just be safe.
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)3. How does elastic hold up under those temps?
Weakened? Stretched?