Latest Developments in Personal Protective Equipment

The growing use of PPE-protected lab employees increased reusable PPE, which led to improved waste management innovations.

FREMONT, CA: PPE is now part of everyday life, yet issues like ill-fitting face masks and gowns for healthcare personnel and supply and logistics chain issues forcing some to reuse disposable PPE persist—innovative PPE-inspired researchers and corporations to develop new and improved products. Hospitals and clinical labs have run out of PPE for the past few years due to high demand. Various companies and colleges collaborated to design 3D-print face shields and respirator masks. For instance, a Toronto doctor modified plastic bags to shield healthcare personnel who remove ventilator tubing from patients.

Significant needs under tight limits lead to innovations, as non-PPE firms innovated PPE. Clothing companies made FDA-approved three-ply cotton masks for critical needs locations. The pandemic sparked studies to increase PPE materials and efficacy. A metal-organic framework fabric can deactivate chemical and biological threats, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Filter research could improve respirators. Nanofibers collected 99.9 percent of coronavirus aerosols recently. Low-cost electrospinning can mass-produce the filter. Many researchers developed PPE solutions during the pandemic. They include surgical mask extenders, virus-deactivating polymers, and N95 coatings, making them easier to disinfect and antiviral.

Researchers created gadgets and ways to make PPE decontamination easier. Using vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) and other procedures shows that N95 masks could be successfully decontaminated and reused. VHP is used to decontaminate PPE after comparative research.