Table 1  Summary of previous studies examining the disinfection methods for respirators.
Disinfection Method  Filtration Performance  Bactericidal/Virucidal Activity  Reference
Oven-dry  No drop in filtration efficiency under 75~100 °C for 30 min treatment; sharp drop in filtration efficiency when treated with 125 °C (up to 10%)  About 5-log10 fold reduction of SARS-CoV-2 under 95 °C for 5 min treatment  [7]
No drop in particle filtration efficiency under 100 °C, 50 min treatment  Above 4-log10 attenuation in Tulane virus, rotavirus, adenovirus  [8]
Small decrease in particle filtration efficiency under 100 °C for 15 min (about 1.5%)  Complete bactericidal efficiency of S. aureus  [20]
Microwaving  No particle filtration efficiency drop for 2 min exposure  NA  [10]
No particle filtration efficiency drop for 2.5 min exposure  >4-log10 reduction of E. coli for 2.5 min exposure with 500 W power  [18]
UV irradiation  NA  Complete bactericidal efficiency to B. subtilis spores  [12]
No particle filtration efficiency drop  NA  [7,10,12,17]
Complete bactericidal efficiency of S. subtilis and E. coli  [18]
Small decrease in particle filtration efficiency (up to 1.25%)  NA  [16]
Chlorinated disinfectant  No drop in particle filtration efficiency after using hypochlorite wipe  About 1-log10 attenuation in S. aureus after using hypochlorite wipe  [13]
Decrease in particle filtration with increased pressure drop (up to 18.3%)  NA  [11]
No effect on aerosol penetration efficiency  NA  [10,14]
Ethanol  Drastic decrease in filtration efficiency (up to 18%)  Complete suppression of bacterial growth after 5 min immersion  [22]
NA  [7,19]
Complete bactericidal efficiency of S. subtilis and E. coli  [18]
Isopropanol  Decrease in particle filtration efficiency (over 5%)  NA  [11,17]
Significant drop in oily aerosol filtration efficiency after 2 min immersion (up to around 40%)  NA  [9]
Detergent -laundering  Significant drop in particle filtration efficiency after soap solution soaking for 2 min (up to around 39%)  NA  [15]