FROM THE BENCH
6. Inside the biosafety hood and using
a long forcep, place a maximum of 16
masks in a batch inside the biosafety
hood. Also place the COC on one
of the hood’s inside walls for the
process. Do not use the blower in the
hood at this time.
7. Close the biosafety hood sash. The UV
light will turn on and the treatment
will start.
8. Halfway through treatment the light
automatically turns off. At this point,
open the sash and, using a long
forcep, carefully flip the masks over.
Repeat the previous step until the UV
light turns off again.
9. At the end of the UV treatment, place
each mask in a clean, self-sealing
plastic bag.
10. Place the clean masks inside the
cooler on a new, clean cart and
bring the cart outside the lab in the
designated mask pick up area.
11. At the end of the decontamination
process, place all the PPE and soiled
bags that came with the masks
in the autoclave bag and process
immediately.
During the procedure, the laboratory
utilized color-coded carts to prevent
cross-contamination, a specific courier
route to the microbiology laboratory, and
COC documentation for each batch. The
laboratory used designated coolers clearly
labeled for the mask disinfection process
to safely store and transport the masks
throughout the laboratory. •
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation
(UVGI) has been shown to effectively
inactivate a wide range of human
pathogens, including coronaviruses
and other human respiratory viruses.
N95 masks in a biosafety cabinet undergo decontamination
procedures. Photo: Santa Cruz PHL
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Summer 2020 LAB MATTERS 15