Figure 3.

Effect of 20 min of use followed by one decontamination cycle using different methods – thermal drying (orange), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) (pink), oven (green) or autoclave (purple) – on the performance of surgical masks (left) and respirators (right). New surgical masks and respirators are represented in blue. Performance was measured by air permeability (Ap) (l/m²/s) (A, B); burst resistance (Br) (bar) (C, D); and pressure differential (Pd) (Δp) (E, F). The graphics do not have the same scale. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001. ns, not significant.