Federal regulators have updated warnings about the cleaning and reuse of N95 masks hospitals, according to WBUR website.
The Food and Drug Administration said it no longer approves of decontaminating and reusing some N95 respirators made in China, saying these masks "may vary in their design and performance." The majority of N95 masks in the United States were made in China.
The update came questions were raised about the safety of cleaning and reusing them. The FDA also said sanitized masks should only be used when new, FDA-cleared N95 masks are unavailable.
The FDA said N95 masks that the agency has cleared or have been approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are still permitted to be cleaned and reused.
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