New UAF-Designed Device Sanitizes Masks for First Responders
September 1, 2020

Ultraviolet light stops many pathogens in their tracks, a fact known for decades. Jeff Rothman has an old light box with a bank of long-wave UV bulbs he formerly used for making printed circuit boards. He recently thought of a new use for it during the COVID-19 pandemic.
āI use N95 respirators (N95 masks) in my work, so I had a small supply to experiment with,ā said Rothman, manager of the Electronics Shop at the ĄÖ»¢Ö±²„ Geophysical Institute. āThere were others, particularly first responders, who were going to need them. I wondered if I could use that light box to disinfect and reuse the respirators.ā
āGiven the shortage of respirators, I could see there was going to be a problem,ā Rothman said.
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