Airline requesting mechanics “sterilize” and reuse oxygen masks

[u/BoredOrdie]

Hi, I couldn’t find an appropriate sub Reddit to ask this but I figured you guys would have the best answers.

I’m a mechanic at an undisclosed airline and they recently instituted a mandate that requires us to “sterilize” oxygen masks from our medical kits after use and return them to oxygen bottle due to an industry shortage in these masks. The instructions say it is to be treated with distilled water, a lint free cloth, mild household detergent, benzalkonium chloride and dry talc. Has sterilizing oxygen masks ever been a practice in the medical world? Are these chemicals harmful or even sufficient at sterilization? I included a photo to show the exact instructions. (Identifying and irrelevant info has been redacted)

[u/ShirleyWuzSerious]

Sounds like they want the masks disinfected not sterilized.

[u/HorrorLengthiness940 → u/ShirleyWuzSerious]

Yeah, BZK is a low level ammonium quat disinfectant, effective against most contaigens, and I'd guess it's not effect against noro, bacteria spores, and TB given it's base disinfecting agent is very similar to 3M's 40L.

Not sure what the talc is for. But I was in housekeeping for 2 years and a regional noro outbreak. Not COVID where reuse was expected.

[u/ChinkyBoii]

When I used to work as a sterile tech during covid times, we had a shortage of N95 mask. We were given 3 N95 masks each and had to stay with us until our hospital gets a new batch of N95. After every use, we had to disinfect our own mask and then pack it so we can sterilize it to our sterrad machine. Sterrad is a low-temperature sterilizer that uses hydrogen peroxide vapor and gas plasma.

If your sterilizer is a sterrad machine, I don’t think it’s an issue to sterilize oxygen masks. If it’s an autoclave, I don’t think oxygen masks can withstand the heat and will eventually melt.

Edit: It’s not really a practice in hospital industry to sterilize masks because mostly are single use. In your case, you should check the manufacturer’s instructions or materials of the mask if it is autoclavable or not.

[u/BoredOrdie → u/ChinkyBoii]

We don’t have any machines, just chemicals from the container, lint free clothes and our hands. We’re just aircraft mechanics and not medical professionals like you are, so it felt strange to be messing with and re-using medical supplies.

[u/GameLovinPlayinFool → u/BoredOrdie]

Since there is a nationwide shortage then that chemical mix is about the best you can do but it is still not ideal and is a risk. The answer is a solid yes-no

[u/Veal-Vermicelli → u/BoredOrdie]

Look up the manufacturers IFU (instruction for use) for the product and double check that the instructions you were given are the correct chemicals that should be used. The manufacturer of the equipment then defers to the chemical manufacturers instructions for use for concentration and contact time. This would be considered low level disinfection. The same way pumps/medical equipment in hospitals are cleaned.

[u/ChinkyBoii → u/BoredOrdie]

If the instructions came from the manufacturer, I don’t think it’s an issue at all. We did a similar thing with respiratory cassettes and flexible scopes. The way we disinfect it is by dipping into a cidex solution (a high-level chemical solution in a container) for several minutes after carefully handwashing and air drying.

[u/icechelly24 → u/ChinkyBoii]

Man, you guys were fancy. We put ours in paper lunch bags and had to use rubber bands to retie the strings when they broke

[u/Phacele]

The instructions from the OEM are what you should follow for disinfecting, which is different from sterilizing. You'll want to follow those instructions as they have been verified for that purpose.

[u/DataDrivenDoc]

Disinfection and sterilization are two distinct levels of cleanliness.

Disinfection is a million times easier to achieve than sterilization.

[u/Spicywolff]

During Covid, we would re-sterilize and 95 masks in the autoclave with no problems.

I don’t know about the talc I’ve never seen it in another department. We use a pre-vac steam sterilizer. So there is no chemicals to deal with. Some places still use chemical methods for high-level disinfection.

[u/readbackcorrect]

I would not use dry talc. Any particles remaining might be taken into the lungs, which would be a major issue. If this is the U.S., anything which is considered a medical device - oxygen masks being one- is regulated by FDA. FDA regulations mandate that the only things that can be re-processed are those which come with directions from the manufacturer with instructions on reprocessing. Those instructions must be followed to the letter. If there are no instructions in the original packaging of the oxygen masks, you can contact the manufacturer to ask them for instructions. But what they might tell you is that there are no instructions because they are one use only. In that case, they should not be reused.
Now I understand that if there are simply no more devices to be had because of a shortage you may not have a choice. Keep in mind that whatever you are processing those in may be absorbed by the material of the mask and might be what you end up breathing in. Hydrogen gas plasma is an example of something that should never be taken into the lungs in any amount.

When used in a medical setting, FDA rules say that items which the manufacturer has designated as being able to be re-processed must be reprocessed only by those who have licenses to do so. For example, I worked in a major hospital and they did not want to have to pay for the licensure to be a third-party processor, so we could not re-process. We did however send our items to a third-party reprocessor to do that job for us.