Microwave Decontamination of Personnel Protective Equipment–Novel Response to the Global COVID Crisis

Microwave decontamination is used in medicine, food and other fields. Microwave is a high-frequency electromagnetic wave. When it works in a medium, molecules such as water, protein, fat, and carbohydrates are subjected to alternating electric fields and vibrate violently, resulting in strong friction and heat release. This thermal effect modifies or inactivates the structure of proteins, nucleic acids and other molecules in microorganisms. In addition, the high-frequency electric field will also change the membrane potential and molecular structure of microorganisms, causing damage to microorganisms, thereby decontaminating. During the ravages of the Corona Virus Disease 2019, personal protective equipment such as masks are facing a tight market and a shortage of resources. There is a growing perception that single-use protective equipment is ephemeral and unsustainable. However, the hygienic, structural and functional integrity of protective equipment must be guaranteed if re-use is to be achieved. At present, many researchers have decontaminated N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFR) through microwave technology, and evaluated the key indicators of FFR after decontamination, providing scientific support for the safe decontamination of disposable FFR. Therefore, in the first part of this chapter, the research on the decontamination of personal protective equipment by microwave technology is reviewed, and the effects of microwave decontamination on the aerosol penetration, airflow resistance, and physical properties of N95 masks are summarized. At the same time, microwave decontamination technology has a high application value in the food field. We all know that spoiled grains and dairy products contain aflatoxin, which is extremely poisonous to the human body. Previous studies have used microwave technology to degrade this harmful substance. The second part of this chapter describes the processing technology of aflatoxin removal in food, focuses on the degradation mechanism of aflatoxin by microwave heat treatment, and highlights the great potential of microwave decontamination technology in the degradation of toxic and harmful substances in food, which provides new ideas for subsequent related research.