FIG 1.

N95 respirator microwave steam decontamination by ceramic mug either inside or in the absence of Ziploc containment. (A) Image of ceramic mug decontamination system. A 10-cm-diameter mug was filled with 60 ml of distilled water and covered with mesh from a produce bag, secured with a rubber band. Triplicate N95 1-cm² coupons were placed on top of the mesh. The mug was then placed in the microwave either in a sealed, ventilated Ziploc bag or directly into the microwave. (B) After a 1-min microwave treatment, with or without Ziploc bag enclosure, or a 60-min treatment with dry 105°C heat, phage was extracted from N95 coupons and quantified by plaque assay. Triplicate untreated N95 coupons were included as controls in all assays. There was no significant reduction in plaque titer between Ziploc bag-enclosed and open-mug decontamination systems or between dry-heat-treated and untreated controls (P = 0.9 or P = 0.66, respectively, as determined by analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Holm Sidak posthoc test). PFU, plaque-forming units, a direct measure of viable viral titer; n.s., not significant.