Foat, TG, Higgins, B, Abbs, C et al. (6 more authors) (2022) Modeling the effect of temperature and relative humidity on exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in a mechanically ventilated room. Indoor Air, 32 (11). e13146. ISSN 0905-6947
Abstract
Computational fluid dynamics models have been developed to predict airborne exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus from a coughing person in a mechanically ventilated room. The models were run with three typical indoor air temperatures and relative humidities (RH). Quantile regression was used to indicate whether these have a statistically significant effect on the airborne exposure. Results suggest that evaporation is an important effect. Evaporation leads to respiratory particles, particularly those with initial diameters between 20 and 100 μm, remaining airborne for longer, traveling extended distances and carrying more viruses than expected from their final diameter. In a mechanically ventilated room, with all of the associated complex air movement and turbulence, increasing the RH may result in reduced airborne exposure. However, this effect may be so small that other factors, such as a small change in proximity to the infected person, could rapidly counter the effect. The effect of temperature on the exposure was more complex, with both positive and negative correlations. Therefore, within the range of conditions studied here, there is no clear guidance on how the temperature should be controlled to reduce exposure. The results highlight the importance of ventilation, face coverings and maintaining social distancing for reducing exposure.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 Crown copyright.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | aerosol, computational fluid dynamics, cough, COVID-19, exhalation, exposure |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NIHR National Inst Health Research Not Known NIHR National Inst Health Research Not Known |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Apr 2023 13:50 |
Last Modified: | 04 Apr 2023 13:50 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/ina.13146 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:194073 |