The biochemist who created a respirator with homemade materials to protect healthcare personnel

The message for over a month has been to stay home. The goal is that with this physical isolation, prevent undetected cases of coronaviruses from accelerating transmission. However, there are many people who cannot stop working, mainly health personnel. Along with them, many critical business tellers or workers, etc. All are exposed to a higher risk of exposure to contagion.

The undersecretary of Assistance Networks, Arturo Zúñiga, reported that 720 workers in the health network are infected with coronavirus. That is, that the figure doubled in the last 15 days.

How to protect them, also in a scenario where protection supplies are scarce, was the motivation of the biochemist, doctor of chemistry and academic from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, University of Santiago, Raúl Mera, which developed a respirator mask with homemade materials to protect health personnel.

It was originally born as a project to present it in the contest of the Ministry of Science and Corfo of scientific innovation to protect health personnel, which Mera did not finally present, but having an approach that anyone can do it, he says, “I hope it is a contribution ”.

The ideal is that they could use the certified masks, “But you don’t always have access to that type of protection”, indicates. That is why Mera left the instructions of a mask that achieves “a correct face seal, so that it has the potential to provide very good respiratory protection,” available to internet users, he said. To make it, you need bags, ribbons, bottles and caps, among other things.

RA-04 is the name of the fourth prototype created with homemade materials by the biochemistry graduate, doctor of chemistry and researcher in theoretical chemistry of surfaces and theoretical biochemistry of transition metals.

“I have achieved what appears to be a seal to the correct face, so the respirator has the potential to deliver very good respiratory protection,” said Mera.

Mera indicates that she is trying to make a lot of respirators, but that her real goal is that people themselves can follow the instructions and make them. “Manufacturing is more or less laborious, but not difficult. I’ve never been good at this kind of thing and I was able to do it“He comments.

Anyone can make one. It has the advantages of artisan face masks, he says, plus some of the advantages of a more sophisticated respirator. “I would like it to be known, because for it to serve, people need to know that it exists and that it can do it.”

For the respirator, resealable bag, duct tape or ‘duct tape’, teflon tape, electrical tape, liquid silicone, mounting tape and bottle caps are required.

For the filter, a half-liter bottle, duct tape, liquid silicone and filter material that the person chooses, depending on availability.

“My preliminary tests indicate that I achieve a good seal between the prototype and my face. Without a good seal, the air can enter through the sides and not pass through the filter, which does happen with surgical and artisan masks, ”he says. The The efficiency of the complete respirator will depend on whether it has air leaks and the filter material used for the filter..

In his opinion, the best filter materials are those that are P100 certified. However, even though “these are tested and provide excellent protection (better than N95), they are not widely available,” he acknowledged. Therefore, he proposes to use the same material as a surgical mask.

The respirator decreases the wetting of the filter, making the material last longer. However, the specialist points out that other materials can also be used, such as dish cloths or vacuum cleaner bags.

“The idea is to take advantage of the fact that the making of RA-04 does not require special materials or special skills. If there are no N95 respirators or other similar certification, I think it is important that there are alternativesMera concludes.