4.7 Article

Sterilization Induced Changes in Polypropylene-Based Ffp2 Masks

Journal

POLYMERS
Volume 13, Issue 23, Pages -

Publisher

MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/polym13234107

Keywords

polypropylene; FFP2 masks; sterilization; chain scissions; crosslinking

Ask authors/readers for more resources

This study investigates the impact of efficient sterilization on FFP2 masks during the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Testing different irradiation methods under vacuum, it was found that changes induced by irradiation under vacuum were relatively minor, while those from gamma-ray irradiation under air were more significant.
In the context of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic and because of the surgical and FFP2 mask (equivalent to the American N95 masks) shortages, studies on efficient sterilization protocols were initiated. As sterilization using irradiation is commonly used in the medical field, this method was among those that were evaluated. In this work, we tested irradiation under vacuum and under air (under both gamma-rays and e-beams), but also, for acceptance purposes, undertook washing prior to the e-beam irradiation sterilization process. This article deals with the modifications induced by the sterilization processes at the molecular and the macromolecular scales on an FFP2 mask. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance mode, size-exclusion chromatography and thermal-desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to characterize possible damage to the materials. It appeared that the modifications induced by the different sterilization processes under vacuum were relatively tenuous and became more significant when irradiation was performed using gamma-rays under air.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available