Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

23 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Effects of surgical masks on aerosol dispersion in professional singing.

ABSTRACT: In the CoVID-19 pandemic, singing came into focus as a high-risk activity for the infection with airborne viruses and was therefore forbidden by many governmental administrations. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of surgical masks regarding the spatial and temporal dispersion of aerosol and droplets during professional singing. Ten professional singers performed a passage of the Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ode of Joy" in two experimental setups-each with and without surgical masks. First, they sang with previously inhaled vapor of e-cigarettes. The emitted cloud was recorded by three cameras to measure its dispersion dynamics. Secondly, the naturally expelled larger droplets were illuminated by a laser light sheet and recorded by a high-speed camera. The exhaled vapor aerosols were decelerated and deflected by the mask and stayed in the singer's near-field around and above their heads. In contrast, without mask, the aerosols spread widely reaching distances up to 1.3 m. The larger droplets were reduced by up to 86% with a surgical mask worn. The study shows that surgical masks display an effective tool to reduce the range of aerosol dispersion during singing. In combination with an appropriate aeration strategy for aerosol removal, choir singers could be positioned in a more compact assembly without contaminating neighboring singers all singers.

SUBMITTER: Kniesburges S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8491963 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Aerosol emission in professional singing of classical music.

Project description:In this study, emission rates of aerosols emitted by professional singers were measured with a laser particle counter under cleanroom conditions. The emission rates during singing varied between 753 and 6093 particles/sec with a median of 1537 particles/sec. Emission rates for singing were compared with data for breathing and speaking. Significantly higher emission rates were found for singing. The emission enhancements between singing and speaking were between 4.0 and 99.5 with a median of 17.4, largely due to higher sound pressure levels when singing. Further, significant effects of vocal loudness were found, whereas there were no significant differences between the investigated voice classifications. The present study supports the efforts to improve the risk management in cases of possible aerogenic virus transmission, especially for choir singing.

| S-EPMC8295351 | biostudies-literature

Spatiotemporal droplet dispersion measurements demonstrate face masks reduce risks from singing.

Project description:COVID-19 has restricted singing in communal worship. We sought to understand variations in droplet transmission and the impact of wearing face masks. Using rapid laser planar imaging, we measured droplets while participants exhaled, said 'hello' or 'snake', sang a note or 'Happy Birthday', with and without surgical face masks. We measured mean velocity magnitude (MVM), time averaged droplet number (TADN) and maximum droplet number (MDN). Multilevel regression models were used. In 20 participants, sound intensity was 71 dB for speaking and 85 dB for singing (p < 0.001). MVM was similar for all tasks with no clear hierarchy between vocal tasks or people and > 85% reduction wearing face masks. Droplet transmission varied widely, particularly for singing. Masks decreased TADN by 99% (p < 0.001) and MDN by 98% (p < 0.001) for singing and 86-97% for other tasks. Masks reduced variance by up to 48%. When wearing a mask, neither singing task transmitted more droplets than exhaling. In conclusion, wide variation exists for droplet production. This significantly reduced when wearing face masks. Singing during religious worship wearing a face mask appears as safe as exhaling or talking. This has implications for UK public health guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

| S-EPMC8683488 | biostudies-literature

Expiratory aerosol particle escape from surgical masks due to imperfect sealing.

Project description:Wearing surgical masks or other similar face coverings can reduce the emission of expiratory particles produced via breathing, talking, coughing, or sneezing. Although it is well established that some fraction of the expiratory airflow leaks around the edges of the mask, it is unclear how these leakage airflows affect the overall efficiency with which masks block emission of expiratory aerosol particles. Here, we show experimentally that the aerosol particle concentrations in the leakage airflows around a surgical mask are reduced compared to no mask wearing, with the magnitude of reduction dependent on the direction of escape (out the top, the sides, or the bottom). Because the actual leakage flowrate in each direction is difficult to measure, we use a Monte Carlo approach to estimate flow-corrected particle emission rates for particles having diameters in the range 0.5-20 μm. in all orientations. From these, we derive a flow-weighted overall number-based particle removal efficiency for the mask. The overall mask efficiency, accounting both for air that passes through the mask and for leakage flows, is reduced compared to the through-mask filtration efficiency, from 93 to 70% for talking, but from only 94-90% for coughing. These results demonstrate that leakage flows due to imperfect sealing do decrease mask efficiencies for reducing emission of expiratory particles, but even with such leakage surgical masks provide substantial control.

| S-EPMC8187651 | biostudies-literature

The Filtration Efficiency of Surgical Masks for Expiratory Aerosol and Droplets Generated by Vocal Exercises

Project description: Not available

| S-BSST1187 | biostudies-other

Influence of Turbulent Fluctuations on Cloud Droplet Size Dispersion and Aerosol Indirect Effects.

Project description:Cloud droplet relative dispersion, defined as the standard deviation over the mean cloud droplet size, is of central importance in determining and understanding aerosol indirect effects. In recent work, it was found that cloud droplet size distributions become broader as a result of supersaturation variability and that the sensitivity of this effect is inversely related to cloud droplet number density. The subject is investigated in further detail using an extensive dataset from a laboratory cloud chamber capable of producing steady-state turbulence. An extended stochastic theory is found to successfully describe properties of the droplet size distribution, including an analytical expression for the relative dispersion. The latter is found to depend on the cloud droplet removal time, which in turn increases with the cloud droplet number density. The results show that relative dispersion decreases monotonically with increasing droplet number density, consistent with some recent atmospheric observations. Experiments spanning fast to slow microphysics regimes are reported. The observed dispersion is used to estimate time scales for autoconversion, demonstrating the important role of the turbulence-induced broadening effect on precipitation development. An initial effort is made to extend the stochastic theory to an atmospheric context with a steady updraft, for which autoconversion time is the controlling factor for droplet lifetime. As in the cloud chamber, relative dispersion is found to increase with decreasing cloud droplet number density.

| S-EPMC6322217 | biostudies-literature

Aerosol emission of adolescents voices during speaking, singing and shouting.

Project description:Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, singing activities for children and young people have been strictly regulated with far-reaching consequences for music education in schools and ensemble and choir singing in some places. This is also due to the fact, that there has been no reliable data available on aerosol emissions from adolescents speaking, singing, and shouting. By utilizing a laser particle counter in cleanroom conditions we show, that adolescents emit fewer aerosol particles during singing than what has been known so far for adults. In our data, the emission rates ranged from 16 P/s to 267 P/s for speaking, 141 P/s to 1240 P/s for singing, and 683 P/s to 4332 P/s for shouting. The data advocate an adaptation of existing risk management strategies and rules of conduct for groups of singing adolescents, like gatherings in an educational context, e.g. singing lessons or choir rehearsals.

| S-EPMC7875408 | biostudies-literature

Effects of surgical and FFP2/N95 face masks on cardiopulmonary exercise capacity.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Due to the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, medical face masks are widely recommended for a large number of individuals and long durations. The effect of wearing a surgical and a FFP2/N95 face mask on cardiopulmonary exercise capacity has not been systematically reported. METHODS:This prospective cross-over study quantitated the effects of wearing no mask (nm), a surgical mask (sm) and a FFP2/N95 mask (ffpm) in 12 healthy males (age 38.1?±?6.2 years, BMI 24.5?±?2.0 kg/m2). The 36 tests were performed in randomized order. The cardiopulmonary and metabolic responses were monitored by ergo-spirometry and impedance cardiography. Ten domains of comfort/discomfort of wearing a mask were assessed by questionnaire. RESULTS:The pulmonary function parameters were significantly lower with mask (forced expiratory volume: 5.6?±?1.0 vs 5.3?±?0.8 vs 6.1?±?1.0 l/s with sm, ffpm and nm, respectively; p?=?0.001; peak expiratory flow: 8.7?±?1.4 vs 7.5?±?1.1 vs 9.7?±?1.6 l/s; p?<?0.001). The maximum power was 269?±?45, 263?±?42 and 277?±?46 W with sm, ffpm and nm, respectively; p?=?0.002; the ventilation was significantly reduced with both face masks (131?±?28 vs 114?±?23 vs 99?±?19 l/m; p?<?0.001). Peak blood lactate response was reduced with mask. Cardiac output was similar with and without mask. Participants reported consistent and marked discomfort wearing the masks, especially ffpm. CONCLUSION:Ventilation, cardiopulmonary exercise capacity and comfort are reduced by surgical masks and highly impaired by FFP2/N95 face masks in healthy individuals. These data are important for recommendations on wearing face masks at work or during physical exercise.

| S-EPMC7338098 | biostudies-literature

Face Masks and Bacterial Dispersion Toward the Periocular Area.

Project description: Not available

| S-EPMC7801188 | biostudies-literature

Filter quality of electret masks in filtering 14.6-594 nm aerosol particles: Effects of five decontamination methods.

Project description:This study investigates the effects of five decontamination methods on the filter quality (qf) of three commercially available electret masks-N95, Gauze and Spunlace nonwoven masks. Newly developed evaluation methods, the overall filter quality (qf,o) and the qf ratio were applied to evaluate the effectiveness of decontamination methods for respirators. A scanning mobility particle sizer is utilized to measure the concentration of polydispersed particles with diameter 14.6-594 nm. The penetration of particles and pressure drop (?p) through the mask are used to determine qf and qf,o. Experimental results reveal that the most penetrating particle size (MPS) for the pre-decontaminated N95, Gauze and Spunlace masks were 118 nm, 461 nm and 279 nm, respectively, and the respective penetration rates were 2.6%, 23.2% and 70.0%. The ?p through the pretreated N95 masks was 9.2 mm H2O at the breathing flow rate of heavy-duty workers, exceeding the ?p values obtained through Gauze and Spunlace masks. Decontamination increased the sizes of the most penetrating particles, changing the qf values of all of the masks: qf fell as particle size increased because the penetration increased. Bleach increased the ?p of N95, but destroyed the Gauze mask. However, the use of an autoclave reduces the ?p values of both the N95 and the Gauze mask. Neither the rice cooker nor ethanol altered the ?p of the Gauze mask. Chemical decontamination methods reduced the qf,o values for the three electret masks. The value of qf,o for PM0.1 exceeded that for PM0.1-0.6, because particles smaller than 100 nm had lower penetration, resulting in a better qf for a given pressure drop. The values of qf,o, particularly for PM0.1, reveal that for the tested treatments and masks, physical decontamination methods are less destructive to the filter than chemical methods. Nevertheless, when purchasing new or reusing FFRs, penetration should be regarded as the priority.

| S-EPMC5638397 | biostudies-literature

Measurements and Simulations of Aerosol Released while Singing and Playing Wind Instruments

Project description:Outbreaks from choir performances, such as the Skagit Valley Choir, showed that singing

| S-EPMC8525345 | biostudies-literature