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Mentor company Steris gets FDA approval to sanitize N95 masks

Steris sanitizer
Jon Husted.png
Posted at 4:45 PM, Apr 10, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-10 16:45:13-04

MENTOR, Ohio — The FDA has granted Steris, a local healthcare company headquartered in Mentor, an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to sanitize N95 masks for medical workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The EUA that Steris was granted will allow the company to “effectively decontaminate compatible N95 or N95-equivalent respirators up to 10 times,” according to the company.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted made the announcement during the state’s daily coronavirus news briefing. “It’s just another example of the Ohio innovators out there in business who are stepping up and solving problems,” he said.

The company has 100 machines across the state that will help healthcare workers. Each machine uses a vaporizing hydrogen peroxide sanitizer to clean around 10 masks every 28 minutes.

“The technology for this was developed right here in Ohio at the Steris facility, and we thank our innovators and entrepreneurs and healthcare professionals who are really solving problems every day out there—it’s fantastic,” Husted said.

More information Steris' mask sterilization can be found here.

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