SteraMist Deployed to Meet Urgent Need for Decontamination and Reuse of N95 Masks for Healthcare Workforce

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., April 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. (“TOMI”) (OTCQB:TOMZ), is a global company specializing in disinfection and decontamination, utilizing its premier Binary Ionization Technology (BIT) platform through its SteraMist products - a hydrogen peroxide-based mist and fog composed of ionized Hydrogen Peroxide (iHP). SteraMist is currently being used around the world to decontaminate N95-equivalent respirator masks, plastic PAPRs, face shields, and other medical protective equipment.

The challenging situation that has been created by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has led to critical shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), placing healthcare workers at a greater risk of infection. The global supply chain is currently unable to adequately supply N95 respirators to all healthcare systems, limiting their ability to protect their healthcare workforce.

Current methods being used for PPE disinfection, such as outdated studies from vaporized hydrogen peroxide as well as ultraviolet slightly degrading polymers, lead to a small increase in particle penetration and result in less effective techniques. Due to incompatibility, chambers utilizing a high concentration of hydrogen peroxide vapor are not authorized by the FDA to disinfect respirators containing 10 percent and less cellulose-based materials or plastic face shields as the high concentration of hydrogen peroxide decontamination degrades many materials.

SteraMist, however, can decontaminate all masks, including those with up to 10% cellulose, and face shields without presenting a risk of degradation, leaving the mask decontaminated and deodorized. SteraMist iHP technology N95 method of decontamination is proven to be quicker, and less degrading, has superior material compatibility for N95 compared to both VHP (Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide) a registered trademark of Steris and HPV (Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor) the method used by Bioquell. 

Given the existence of state and national disaster declarations, protocols have been developed and deployed at institutions across the United States at the University of Iowa, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, Massachusetts, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and Cedars-Sinai Health Systems in Los Angeles.

A recent study, “Analysis of SteraMist ionized Hydrogen Peroxide Technology in the Sterilization of N95 Respirators and Other PPE”, was conducted by Greater Boston Pandemic Fabrication Team at the Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Ma, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, Ma, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, Ma., Computational Health Informatics Program, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Ma  plus others to prove SteraMist efficacy, filtration efficiency, and quantitative fit testing. The results show that iHP produces a 6-log to 9-log reduction of Geobacillus stearothermophilus (the gold standard for sterilization) after a 7-day incubation period for N95 masks and related PPE. The single-pass filtration efficiency test was performed at MIT and ICS labs to NIOSH standards. Results showed no reduction in filtration efficiency with 0.3, 0.5, and 1um particles after five (5) cycles. The quantitative fit test was tested using PortaCount Respirator Fit tester equipment and passed a reading of >200 fit, proving that iHP disinfection does not impair the ability of N95 masks to form a seal against the user’s face. It is stated in the journal article that 4,800-7,200 masks can be decontaminated on a single shift.  The data in the study supports the use of SteraMist iHP technology as a premier decontamination method for the reuse of N95 masks and many other PPE.