U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and members of the Colorado congressional delegation this week requested expedited federal review of personal protective equipment (PPE) under development at universities in their home state and around the nation.
“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado State University, University of Colorado, and other research universities in our state and across our country are heeding the call to help with assessment of PPE when products are purchased outside of the continental United States, and for the innovative production of PPE components,” wrote Sen. Gardner and the lawmakers in a March 30 letter sent to the directors of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL).
“As the unprecedented, emergent nature of the COVID-19 outbreak grows in our state and throughout the United States, we implore you to demonstrate haste and transparency in your approval process,” according to the letter, which also requested that clear guidance be released on how universities may obtain faster approval to certify release of tested PPE for distribution.
“The need to rapidly obtain and distribute PPE in response to the COVID-19 epidemic is urgent,” according to the members. “In Colorado alone, countless hospitals, clinics, and other health care facilities have seen their stock of PPE nearly or totally depleted and are therefore having to resort to sterilizing and recycling products meant for one-time use.”
Specifically, Sen. Gardner and his colleagues requested that NIOSH grant PPE testing labs authority to certify release of tested masks for distribution and for strong consideration of future PPE developments spearheaded by universities.
“We ask that NIOSH give strong consideration to authorizing these labs, which already implement NIOSH standards and guidelines, to extend their current assessments to physical performance, enabling certification of PPE products, especially N-95 masks,” the members wrote. “Our understanding is that the laboratories agree to provide to NIOSH all of the data used in the assessments needed to rapidly deploy these lifesaving products.”