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Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway

Even though face masks are well accepted as tools useful in reducing COVID-19 transmissions, their effectiveness in reducing viral loads in the respiratory tract is unclear. Wearing a mask will significantly alter the airflow and particle dynamics near the face, which can change the inhalability of...

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Autores principales: Xi, Jinxiang, Si, Xiuhua April, Nagarajan, Ramaswamy
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: AIP Publishing LLC 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7757581/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33362401
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0034580
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author Xi, Jinxiang
Si, Xiuhua April
Nagarajan, Ramaswamy
author_facet Xi, Jinxiang
Si, Xiuhua April
Nagarajan, Ramaswamy
author_sort Xi, Jinxiang
collection PubMed
description Even though face masks are well accepted as tools useful in reducing COVID-19 transmissions, their effectiveness in reducing viral loads in the respiratory tract is unclear. Wearing a mask will significantly alter the airflow and particle dynamics near the face, which can change the inhalability of ambient particles. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of wearing a surgical mask on inspiratory airflow and dosimetry of airborne, virus-laden aerosols on the face and in the respiratory tract. A computational model was developed that comprised a pleated surgical mask, a face model, and an image-based upper airway geometry. The viral load in the nose was particularly examined with and without a mask. Results show that when breathing without a mask, air enters the mouth and nose through specific paths. When wearing a mask, however, air enters the mouth and nose through the entire surface of the mask at lower speeds, which favors the inhalation of ambient aerosols into the nose. With a 65% filtration efficiency (FE) typical for a three-layer surgical mask, wearing a mask reduces dosimetry for all micrometer particles except those of size 1 µm–3 µm, for which equivalent dosimetry with and without a mask in the upper airway was predicted. Wearing a mask reduces particle penetration into the lungs, regardless of the FE of the mask. The results also show that mask-wearing protects the upper airway (particularly the nose and larynx) best from particles larger than 10 µm while protecting the lungs best from particles smaller than 10 µm.
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spelling pubmed-77575812020-12-23 Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway Xi, Jinxiang Si, Xiuhua April Nagarajan, Ramaswamy Phys Fluids (1994) ARTICLES Even though face masks are well accepted as tools useful in reducing COVID-19 transmissions, their effectiveness in reducing viral loads in the respiratory tract is unclear. Wearing a mask will significantly alter the airflow and particle dynamics near the face, which can change the inhalability of ambient particles. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of wearing a surgical mask on inspiratory airflow and dosimetry of airborne, virus-laden aerosols on the face and in the respiratory tract. A computational model was developed that comprised a pleated surgical mask, a face model, and an image-based upper airway geometry. The viral load in the nose was particularly examined with and without a mask. Results show that when breathing without a mask, air enters the mouth and nose through specific paths. When wearing a mask, however, air enters the mouth and nose through the entire surface of the mask at lower speeds, which favors the inhalation of ambient aerosols into the nose. With a 65% filtration efficiency (FE) typical for a three-layer surgical mask, wearing a mask reduces dosimetry for all micrometer particles except those of size 1 µm–3 µm, for which equivalent dosimetry with and without a mask in the upper airway was predicted. Wearing a mask reduces particle penetration into the lungs, regardless of the FE of the mask. The results also show that mask-wearing protects the upper airway (particularly the nose and larynx) best from particles larger than 10 µm while protecting the lungs best from particles smaller than 10 µm. AIP Publishing LLC 2020-12-01 /pmc/articles/PMC7757581/ /pubmed/33362401 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0034580 Text en © 2020 Author(s) Published under license by AIP Publishing. 1070-6631/2020/32(12)/123312/16/$30.00 All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle ARTICLES
Xi, Jinxiang
Si, Xiuhua April
Nagarajan, Ramaswamy
Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway
title Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway
title_full Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway
title_fullStr Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway
title_full_unstemmed Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway
title_short Effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne SARS-CoV-2 aerosols in human upper airway
title_sort effects of mask-wearing on the inhalability and deposition of airborne sars-cov-2 aerosols in human upper airway
topic ARTICLES
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7757581/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33362401
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0034580
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