Majority of the medical wastes generated everyday are the disposable masks that accumulates since the COVID-19 pandemic strikes.
Health workers need to wear PPE such as face masks when the COVID-19 pandemic hits the nation. The N95 type of face mask is the one that is highly in demand to stop the dissemination of the COVID-19 virus. However, the use of face masks entails some risks in terms of the financial and environmental aspects.
Since it is a must to wear face masks and health workers will continue using such, medical wastes of this product shoot up eventually. Well, opting to use a reusable mask would help in reducing such waste.
Face Masks Reduce and Reuse Cycle
During the early onset of the pandemic, face masks like the N95 are becoming in demand resulting in stocks shortage. Lots of health workers are required to use a single face mask throughout the day. This is in contrast to the protocol of using one mask per individual patient. To be more on the sterile side of things, some hospitals strategize to decontaminate such equipment by applying hydrogen peroxide.
With this comes up the development of the reusable N95 mask. The new type of N95 mask is composed of silicone rubber with an N95 filter. Both substances are sterilizable and discardable after use.