Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Decontamination

SANAIR performs decontamination of personal protective equipment (PPE) to extend the life of much needed PPE for our healthcare providers and first responders. We are able to process up to 30,000 respirators and masks per day.

The PPE we process includes the following items:

• N-95 Respirators
• Surgical Masks (Non-Cellulose)
• Surgical Gowns (Non-Cellulose)
• Goggles
• Face Shields

The PPE is processed by placing the items into a decontamination chamber where the PPE is exposed to hydrogen peroxide fog. The PPE dwells in the decontamination chamber for a prescribed amount of time, being exposed to the hydrogen peroxide. After the dwell time is complete, the PPE is ventilated and dried, which removes the hydrogen peroxide and moisture.

Once the PPE is decontaminated, it is moved to the clean/sorting room where the PPE is further evaluated for stains, tears, broken straps, etc. Damaged PPE is set aside from the usable PPE.

N-95 respirators straps are marked each time they pass through a decontamination cycle. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows for the respirators to be processed with hydrogen peroxide up to 20 times. The PPE is then packaged for delivery.

A chain of custody system will track the PPE through each step of the decontamination process, ensuring the customer receives the same PPE back, that was delivered to us.

*We only process PPE labeled and classified as “Soiled Utility”. We do not accept medical waste, or biohazardous materials. All PPE must be certified by the customer as not being biohazardous.