ResMed QuietAir exhalation vent mold concerns

[Hannibal 2]

The QuietAir vent is used on several RedMed masks, in my case the F30. I will soon be getting an F40 and hopefully it will be a good upgrade. It's clever technology as it does indeed make the mask much quieter, which is great for me and also doesn't disturb my wife.

However, I've seen a video that points out that it can be a haven for mold growth. The vent cannot be dismantled, so it makes it almost impossible to clean, I'm not sure if it would easily dry if soaked. The part is not listed by ResMed as a component with a change interval, I believe it is supplied with the headgear which is only changed 6 monthly. I now intend to buy a new vent every 2 or 3 months to reduce the risk of breathing in mold spores. I understand it's an exhalation vent, but some air will also be breathed in through it.

I'd like to know your thoughts on this, cleaning tips, change period advice etc.TIA

This is the video that alerted me to it, an extreme case but all the same it does highlight an issue. Scroll to 10:30

https://youtu.be/6bSx6Us2KQY?si=DbvhQji9SkgHXKfI

[Dog Slobber]

It is not mold, it's staining, from pushing thousands of moist air containing tiny particles through it .

And as usual Nick is full of shit. The only potential air that comes back through it would be:

• The first breath or two used to start the device with Smart Start enabled
• If one were to take in a huge, forceful breath, much greater than the flow produced by the device. Which doesn't happen, and would open the AA valves.

This is also easy to verify for yourself.

Put on a CPAP mask, put the back of your hand very close to the venting. Breath-in and out, you will always feel the venting. The will be cooler. In fact, if EPR is on, the venting will be greater when one inhales as the pressure and flow increases.

How do we know it's [likely] not mold. This staining occurs in *ALL* of the ResMed masks, with the holes and QuietAir diffusing material, including the P/N30i.

The staining is always distributed fairly evenly over every hole. If it were mold, the even distribution pattern would not be there. Mold would occur in one or two clusters and then spread out from there. Mold is also very easy to test for. Millions of ResMed masks with the alleged mold, and yet not one verified case of a positive ID of mold.

And ResMed, would continue to ship it? When a simple fix would be to simply remove the material.

[Hannibal 2]

It is not mold, it's staining, from pushing thousands of moist air containing tiny particles through it .

And as usual Nick is full of shit. The only potential air that comes back through it would be:

• The first breath or two used to start the device with Smart Start enabled
• If one were to take in a huge, forceful breath, much greater than the flow produced by the device. Which doesn't happen, and would open the AA valves.

This is also easy to verify for yourself.

Put on a CPAP mask, put the back of your hand very close to the venting. Breath-in and out, you will always feel the venting. The will be cooler. In fact, if EPR is on, the venting will be greater when one inhales as the pressure and flow increases.

How do we know it's [likely] not mold. This staining occurs in *ALL* of the ResMed masks, with the holes and QuietAir diffusing material, including the P/N30i.

The staining is always distributed fairly evenly over every hole. If it were mold, the even distribution pattern would not be there. Mold would occur in one or two clusters and then spread out from there. Mold is also very easy to test for. Millions of ResMed masks with the alleged mold, and yet not one verified case of a positive ID of mold.

And ResMed, would continue to ship it? When a simple fix would be to simply remove the material.

Thank you so much for your response. I must admit, I searched this forum and googled the alleged issue but couldn't find anything.

I appreciate you taking the time to put my mind at ease.

[mlmollenkamp]

I agree with Dog, it shouldn't be an issue. But if you want to clean it you can. I don't seem to be able to attach a PDF, but if you Google airfit-n30i-p30i_disinfection-guide_amer_eng.pdf you will get the instructions for cleaning P30i and N30i for reuse with a different patient in a hospital setting. Anyone who is concerned could follow these instructions. They say it can be cleaned up to 30 times. The Alconox cleaner they specify is available on Amazon, it might be a better way to clean hoses and masks than home products in general. If the process is approved for reusing masks between patients I'm sure it would kill anything that's present on the mask, mold or otherwise. I get plenty of supplies under Medicare, but if I were buying out of pocket I'd do what I used to do, I'd accumulate several used masks and hoses then clean them in bulk once every 3 or 4 months.

[Hannibal 2]

I agree with Dog, it shouldn't be an issue. But if you want to clean it you can. I don't seem to be able to attach a PDF, but if you Google airfit-n30i-p30i_disinfection-guide_amer_eng.pdf you will get the instructions for cleaning P30i and N30i for reuse with a different patient in a hospital setting. Anyone who is concerned could follow these instructions. They say it can be cleaned up to 30 times. The Alconox cleaner they specify is available on Amazon, it might be a better way to clean hoses and masks than home products in general. If the process is approved for reusing masks between patients I'm sure it would kill anything that's present on the mask, mold or otherwise. I get plenty of supplies under Medicare, but if I were buying out of pocket I'd do what I used to do, I'd accumulate several used masks and hoses then clean them in bulk once every 3 or 4 months.

Thank you, that's also reassuring.
I googled that however, I have an F30 and soon getting F40. Perhaps there's a pdf for those too, I'll have a dig around.
Appreciate your response

[mlmollenkamp]

I believe the other masks are covered in mask-disinfection-sterilization-guide_amer_eng.pdf.

[Hannibal 2]

Thanks for finding, but I think that's an old document as I can't see any ff mask newer than F10.

It's interesting though.

[mlmollenkamp]

There is a document for the F40: 608740_airfit-f40_disinfection-guide_amer_eng.pdf but it appears that the reusable mask may be different from the home version. Its not at all clear what the difference is between the masks.
For what its worth its pretty easy to find the guides for any of the masks, google resmed mask cleaning protocol hospital F40 (or other mask type).