[ApS]

Suggestions, mostly from anesthesiologists:

"To be useful, a decontamination method must eliminate the viral threat, be harmless to end-users and retain respirator integrity," they wrote.

All of the methods used were believed effective for destroying coronaviruses, they wrote, but not all of them were good ideas.

"DO NOT use alcohol and chlorine [bleach]-based disinfection methods," they wrote. "These will remove the static charge in the microfibers in N95 facial masks, reducing filtration efficiency. In addition, chlorine also retains gas after de-contamination, and these fumes may be harmful."

Microwaves tended to melt the masks and render them useless.

Hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet radiation appeared to be at least somewhat more effective, they wrote, "but it is not known if they would retain filtration, material strength and airflow integrity with repeated use."

Autoclaves, 320 F [160 C] ovens, and soap and water soaking, all appeared ineffective, they wrote.

However, they wrote, "70 C / 158 F heating in a kitchen-type of oven for 30 min, or hot water vapor from boiling water for 10 min, are additional effective decontamination methods.