The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revoked emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for non-approved disposable respirators in health care settings effective July 6.

The revocation is based on the increased domestic supply of respirators approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and it is consistent with an Emergency Temporary Standard issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to protect health care workers. Crisis capacity conservation strategies, such as wearing non-approved masks or decontaminating and reusing respirators, were previously recommended due to respirator shortages earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FDA recommends that health care personnel and facilities:

• Use only FDA-cleared or NIOSH-approved respirators, including N95s and other respirators, under the EUA for NIOSH-Approved Air Purifying Respirators for Use in Health Care Settings During Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.
• Transition from wearing disposable respirators for respiratory protection for an extended time to conventional practices, including wearing a disposable respirator for each patient contact.
• Consider redistributing your current inventory of non-NIOSH-approved respirators to non-healthcare personnel in other types of industries (such as construction) and other countries where supplies are limited.

The FDA does not recommend reconditioning of non-NIOSH-approved respirators. If a reusable respirator is needed, organizations should first try to acquire respirators such as elastomeric respirators and PAPRs, which are designed to be reusable.

In a related action, NIOSH has updated its Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of N95 Respirators to indicate health care facilities should not be using crisis capacity strategies and should promptly resume conventional practices.