Innovation in Personal Protective Equipment Decontamination During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Powered-Air Purifying Respirator Hood Optimal Decontaminant Distribution System
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted critical shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly respirators, which limited healthcare workers’ safety worldwide. Decontamination and reuse of PPE, including powered-air purifying respirators (PAPR) hoods, became essential to mitigate shortages. Conventional methods were inadequate for complete decontamination, prompting innovative solutions. Objective: To design and evaluate a novel device, the PAPR Hood Optimal Decontaminant Distribution System (PHODDS), for efficient decontamination of PAPR hoods using hydrogen peroxide vapor, ensuring safety, sustainability, and scalability. Methods: PHODDS was constructed using polyvinyl chloride tubing to facilitate hydrogen peroxide vapor circulation throughout PAPR hoods. Three PAPR models were tested in incremental batches of one, six, 10, and 20 hoods. Biological and chemical indicators (BIs and CIs) were placed in challenging areas to verify decontamination efficacy. Off-gassing of the decontaminant was assessed over 7 days post-decontamination. Results: Conventional decontamination methods failed to achieve full decontamination, as indicated by positive biological indicator growth and lack of chemical indicator color change. In contrast, PHODDS demonstrated consistent 6-log reduction efficacy across hoods and batch sizes, with BIs and CIs yielding negative results. The retention of H
