‘A household appliance, which may be sitting inside your kitchen cabinet, can now be used as a powerful tool in the fight to control COVID-19. Researchers with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) developed a do-it-yourself solution to decontaminate personal protective equipment (PPE) using a programmable multicooker...
‘Moist heat decontamination is achieved by treating masks with 149°F steam for 30 minutes. Key steps include placing the mask(s) in a paper bag, filling the multicooker with a half inch of water and setting the bag on a rack inside of it. S&T verified these conditions inactivate the virus below detectable limits in culture media and simulated saliva, while the masks still meet performance specifications after five treatments...
Read here (US DHS, June 19, 2020)
Full instructions, a video, fact sheet and FAQ about the process are available on the HHS S&T website. View video and download PDFs here
