Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission Risk
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is primarily transmitted through virus-laden fluid particles ejected from the mouth of infected people. Face covers can mitigate the risk of virus transmission but their outward effectiveness is not fully ascertained. <italic>Objective:</italic> by using a background...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2021-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9329130/ |
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| author | Ignazio Maria Viola Brian Peterson Gabriele Pisetta Geethanjali Pavar Hibbah Akhtar Filippo Menoloascina Enzo Mangano Katherine E. Dunn Roman Gabl Alex Nila Emanuela Molinari Cathal Cummins Gerard Thompson Tsz-Yan Milly Lo Fiona C. Denison Paul Digard Omair Malik Mark J. G. Dunn Catherine M. McDougall Felicity V. Mehendale |
| author_facet | Ignazio Maria Viola Brian Peterson Gabriele Pisetta Geethanjali Pavar Hibbah Akhtar Filippo Menoloascina Enzo Mangano Katherine E. Dunn Roman Gabl Alex Nila Emanuela Molinari Cathal Cummins Gerard Thompson Tsz-Yan Milly Lo Fiona C. Denison Paul Digard Omair Malik Mark J. G. Dunn Catherine M. McDougall Felicity V. Mehendale |
| author_sort | Ignazio Maria Viola |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The SARS-CoV-2 virus is primarily transmitted through virus-laden fluid particles ejected from the mouth of infected people. Face covers can mitigate the risk of virus transmission but their outward effectiveness is not fully ascertained. <italic>Objective:</italic> by using a background oriented schlieren technique, we aim to investigate the air flow ejected by a person while quietly and heavily breathing, while coughing, and with different face covers. <italic>Results:</italic> we found that all face covers without an outlet valve reduce the front flow through by at least 63% and perhaps as high as 86% if the unfiltered cough jet distance was resolved to the anticipated maximum distance of 2-3 m. However, surgical and handmade masks, and face shields, generate significant leakage jets that may present major hazards. <italic>Conclusions:</italic> the effectiveness of the masks should mostly be considered based on the generation of secondary jets rather than on the ability to mitigate the front throughflow. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2efcee0d775a4c3aba1b7dfa01747d71 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2644-1276 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-2efcee0d775a4c3aba1b7dfa01747d712025-08-20T03:32:47ZengIEEEIEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology2644-12762021-01-012263510.1109/OJEMB.2021.30532159329130Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission RiskIgnazio Maria Viola0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3831-8423Brian Peterson1Gabriele Pisetta2Geethanjali Pavar3Hibbah Akhtar4Filippo Menoloascina5Enzo Mangano6Katherine E. Dunn7Roman Gabl8Alex Nila9Emanuela Molinari10Cathal Cummins11Gerard Thompson12Tsz-Yan Milly Lo13Fiona C. Denison14Paul Digard15Omair Malik16Mark J. G. Dunn17Catherine M. McDougall18Felicity V. Mehendale19School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.Lavision U.K. Ltd., Bicester, U.K.School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Department of Mathematics and Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, U.K.Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.Paediatric Critical Care Unit, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, U.K.The Queen's Medical Research Institute, Univesity of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, U.K.Department of Anaesthesia, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, U.K.Department of Critical Care, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, U.K.Paediatric Critical Care Unit, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, U.K.Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K.The SARS-CoV-2 virus is primarily transmitted through virus-laden fluid particles ejected from the mouth of infected people. Face covers can mitigate the risk of virus transmission but their outward effectiveness is not fully ascertained. <italic>Objective:</italic> by using a background oriented schlieren technique, we aim to investigate the air flow ejected by a person while quietly and heavily breathing, while coughing, and with different face covers. <italic>Results:</italic> we found that all face covers without an outlet valve reduce the front flow through by at least 63% and perhaps as high as 86% if the unfiltered cough jet distance was resolved to the anticipated maximum distance of 2-3 m. However, surgical and handmade masks, and face shields, generate significant leakage jets that may present major hazards. <italic>Conclusions:</italic> the effectiveness of the masks should mostly be considered based on the generation of secondary jets rather than on the ability to mitigate the front throughflow.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9329130/COVID-19 pandemicface coveringsface masksaerosol dispersalaerosol generating procedures |
| spellingShingle | Ignazio Maria Viola Brian Peterson Gabriele Pisetta Geethanjali Pavar Hibbah Akhtar Filippo Menoloascina Enzo Mangano Katherine E. Dunn Roman Gabl Alex Nila Emanuela Molinari Cathal Cummins Gerard Thompson Tsz-Yan Milly Lo Fiona C. Denison Paul Digard Omair Malik Mark J. G. Dunn Catherine M. McDougall Felicity V. Mehendale Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission Risk IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology COVID-19 pandemic face coverings face masks aerosol dispersal aerosol generating procedures |
| title | Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission Risk |
| title_full | Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission Risk |
| title_fullStr | Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission Risk |
| title_full_unstemmed | Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission Risk |
| title_short | Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission Risk |
| title_sort | face coverings aerosol dispersion and mitigation of virus transmission risk |
| topic | COVID-19 pandemic face coverings face masks aerosol dispersal aerosol generating procedures |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9329130/ |
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