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Comparing aerosol number and mass exhalation rates from children and adults during breathing, speaking and singing

Authors :
Justice Archer
Lauren P. McCarthy
Henry E. Symons
Natalie A. Watson
Christopher M. Orton
William J. Browne
Joshua Harrison
Benjamin Moseley
Keir E. J. Philip
James D. Calder
Pallav L. Shah
Bryan R. Bzdek
Declan Costello
Jonathan P. Reid
Imperial College London
Source :
Archer, J, McCarthy, L P, Symons, H E, Watson, N A, Orton, C M, Browne, W J, Harrison, J, Moseley, B, Philip, K E J, Calder, J D, Shah, P L, Bzdek, B R, Costello, D & Reid, J P 2022, ' Comparing aerosol number and mass exhalation rates from children and adults during breathing, speaking and singing ', Interface Focus, vol. 12, no. 2, 20210078 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2021.0078
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

Aerosol particles of respirable size are exhaled when individuals breathe, speak and sing and can transmit respiratory pathogens between infected and susceptible individuals. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the need to improve the quantification of the particle number and mass exhalation rates as one route to provide estimates of viral shedding and the potential risk of transmission of viruses. Most previous studies have reported the number and mass concentrations of aerosol particles in an exhaled plume. We provide a robust assessment of the absolute particle number and mass exhalation rates from measurements of minute ventilation using a non-invasive Vyntus Hans Rudolf mask kit with straps housing a rotating vane spirometer along with measurements of the exhaled particle number concentrations and size distributions. Specifically, we report comparisons of the number and mass exhalation rates for children (12–14 years old) and adults (19–72 years old) when breathing, speaking and singing, which indicate that child and adult cohorts generate similar amounts of aerosol when performing the same activity. Mass exhalation rates are typically 0.002–0.02 ng s−1from breathing, 0.07–0.2 ng s−1from speaking (at 70–80 dBA) and 0.1–0.7 ng s−1from singing (at 70–80 dBA). The aerosol exhalation rate increases with increasing sound volume for both children and adults when both speaking and singing.

Details

ISSN :
20428898
Volume :
12
Issue :
2
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Interface focus
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....67d8c0623a430f7a8b986d75f9c6c243