The team at the Duke Regional Biocontainment Laboratory has already decontaminated hundreds of N95 respirators without damaging them so they can be re-worn several times. Using vaporized hydrogen peroxide, the researchers can kill microbial contaminants that lurk on the masks after they're worn. It's a method, labs have used for decades to decontaminate equipment, said Wayne Thomann, director emeritus of the Duke Occupational & Environmental Safety Office. The team can clean up to 500 masks in one cycle, which takes over four hours. They're working to expand that capacity. Previous research showed that the respirators could be decontaminated and re-worn between 30 to 50 times, but Thomann and the biocontainment lab crew are still evaluating how often they can be re-worn after treating coronavirus patients. "It will certainly be less than 30, and we will be conservative to ensure performance and safety," Thomann told CNN in an email.

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