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. 2021 Jun 29;21:1267. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11346-y

Table 4.

Duration of use, storage and decontamination of used face masks (n = 345)

Performance Mean SD
Day of use (per mask) 2.5 5.5
Frequency Percentage
Storage of used face masks (practice)
 Yes 207 60.0
 No 138 40.0
Storage of used face masks (method)*
 Placing the face mask inside a pocket 85 24.6
 Placing the facemask inside a plastic bag 110 31.9
 Placing the face mask inside a paper bag 100 29.0
 Covering the face mask by tissue paper 198 57.4
 Others 9 2.6
Decontamination of used face masks (practice)
 Yes 115 32.2
 No 242 67.8
Decontamination of used face masks (method)**
 Using alcohol 40 11.6
 Using detergent 9 2.6
 Using sunlight 42 12.2
 Using UV light 11 3.2
 Using steam 8 2.3
 Using iron heat 5 1.4
 Using wind 82 23.8
 Others 3 0.9

* Among the 207 subjects who stored the used face masks, some subjects adopted more than one method to store the used face masks

** Among the 115 subjects who decontaminated the used face masks, some subjects adopted more than one method to decontaminate the used face masks