Page 12 - Shimadzu Technologies for COVID-19 Crisis

Mask | Techniques for Safety and Quality Assurance

Masks can prevent spread of viruses (e.g. respiratory infections) and minimise exposure to airborne
particles. However, there are various types of face masks and the quality of masks generally depends
on the materials used. Additionally, masks have to be sterile and the disinfection process may involve

the use of toxic chemicals. To curb the spread of COVID-19 virus successfully, there is a crucial need
to ensure the safety and quality of masks used by medical professionals and the general public.

Measurement of Ethylene Oxide (a sterilant) Using Headspace Gas Chromatography (HS-GC)
Medical equipment and surgical masks are commonly sterilized with ethylene oxide at room
temperature. However being a toxic carcinogen, there are strict requirements on residue
indicators for single use medical device products.

Shimadzu HS-GC are ideal for the measurement of
residual ethylene oxide in masks and can detect the

specified range of maximum allowable residual
amount in standards such as:
• National standards Biological Evaluation of Medical

Devices Part VII: Ethylene Oxide Sterilization Residues (GB / T16886.7-2015)
• International standard ISO 10993.7-2008 (Biological Evaluation of Medical Devices)

Identification and Verification of Fake and Inferior Masks Using FTIR (IRSpirit )
TM
Quality and relevance of a mask is heavily determined by the multiple layers of material or fabric which
function as differential successive filters.

IRSpirit (FTIR) is a quick and easy technique to
TM
Outer Layer examine and confirm the identity of the layers in
Hydrophobic
non-woven layer a mask based on their characteristic infra-red (IR)
Middle Layer spectrum. Even for masks with blended fabrics, the
Meltblown filter
IRSpirit with LabSolutions IR delivers highly precise
Inner Layer
Hydrophobic search results equipped with:
non-woven layer
Non-woven Layer • 4 high-performance search methods (spectral search,
peak search, text search and combination search)
Meltblown Filter
• Libraries containing approximately 12,000 spectra
Non-woven Layer

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