Coronavirus: Battelle explains revelation to sanitize PPE in video

COLUMBUS — Gov. DeWine celebrated the innovation shown by Battelle to sanitize M-95 masks, and keep healthcare workers across the country protected, with a video shown at a news conference last week.

Battelle was been approved by the FDA to decontaminate PPE in order to meet the growing demand during the COVID-19 crisis.

Tonight starting at 5, NewsCenter 7′s Molly Koweek takes a look at the role Ohio is playing in future scientific breakthroughs.

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Battelle’s machines are capable of cleaning 80,000 M-95 masks per day, and Ohio has two of these machines, located in Columbus and Beavercreek.

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Hospitals will collect their used masks. The masks will be wrapped in plastic bags and sent to Battelle.

Battelle receives FDA approval; 160k masks will be sanitized in Ohio each day Battelle has been approved by the FDA to decontaminate PPE in order to meet the growing demand during the COVID-19 crisis, the company said in a release.

The masks then undergo a decontamination cycle using a concentrated hydrogen peroxide vapor

The masks are then repackaged and sent back to the hospitals they came from.

“We actually keep a count of how many times each mask goes through the process so if any mask is damaged, is soiled or has other items on it, or any mask that hits that 20th cycle will be thrown away,” Lewis Von Thaer, Battelle CEO told News Center 7’s Katy Anderson.

Von Thaer said this technology is in, or en route to, places throughout the country where it is needed the most -- including New York, Seattle and Washington D.C.