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Study of the interactions of sneezing droplets with particulate matter in a polluted environment

We have performed a three-dimensional numerical simulation to determine the effect of local atmospheric pollution level on the spreading characteristics of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus through ejected droplets during sneezing and coughing in an open space. U...

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Autores principales: Dey, Prasenjit, Saha, Sandip K., Sarkar, Sandip
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: AIP Publishing LLC 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8597716/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34803363
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0067517
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author Dey, Prasenjit
Saha, Sandip K.
Sarkar, Sandip
author_facet Dey, Prasenjit
Saha, Sandip K.
Sarkar, Sandip
author_sort Dey, Prasenjit
collection PubMed
description We have performed a three-dimensional numerical simulation to determine the effect of local atmospheric pollution level on the spreading characteristics of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus through ejected droplets during sneezing and coughing in an open space. Utilizing a finite volume-based numerical method, we have performed computations for various ranges of droplet diameters and sneezing speeds. The interactions between the droplets and the suspended particles are considered by taking both hydrophobic and hydrophilic wettability characteristics into account. Our computational results show that the virus-containing droplets partially affect aerosols during the path of their transmission. With the progression of time, the droplet distribution shows an asymmetric pattern. The maximum dispersion of these droplets is found for higher sneezing velocities. The droplets with a diameter of 50 μm travel a larger distance than the larger diameter droplets. We have found that an aerosol with hydrophilic wettability undergoes complete wetting by the disease-containing droplets and therefore is conducive to disease propagation. The droplet engagement duration with aerosol decreases with increase in the sneezing velocity. Our study recommends against using physical exercise centers in a closed environment such as gymnasium and indoor games during the COVID pandemic, especially in a polluted environment. The results from our work will help in deciding proper social distancing guidelines based on the local atmospheric pollution level. They may act as a precursor in controlling further spread of diseases during this unprecedented situation of the COVID pandemic.
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spelling pubmed-85977162021-11-17 Study of the interactions of sneezing droplets with particulate matter in a polluted environment Dey, Prasenjit Saha, Sandip K. Sarkar, Sandip Phys Fluids (1994) ARTICLES We have performed a three-dimensional numerical simulation to determine the effect of local atmospheric pollution level on the spreading characteristics of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus through ejected droplets during sneezing and coughing in an open space. Utilizing a finite volume-based numerical method, we have performed computations for various ranges of droplet diameters and sneezing speeds. The interactions between the droplets and the suspended particles are considered by taking both hydrophobic and hydrophilic wettability characteristics into account. Our computational results show that the virus-containing droplets partially affect aerosols during the path of their transmission. With the progression of time, the droplet distribution shows an asymmetric pattern. The maximum dispersion of these droplets is found for higher sneezing velocities. The droplets with a diameter of 50 μm travel a larger distance than the larger diameter droplets. We have found that an aerosol with hydrophilic wettability undergoes complete wetting by the disease-containing droplets and therefore is conducive to disease propagation. The droplet engagement duration with aerosol decreases with increase in the sneezing velocity. Our study recommends against using physical exercise centers in a closed environment such as gymnasium and indoor games during the COVID pandemic, especially in a polluted environment. The results from our work will help in deciding proper social distancing guidelines based on the local atmospheric pollution level. They may act as a precursor in controlling further spread of diseases during this unprecedented situation of the COVID pandemic. AIP Publishing LLC 2021-11 2021-11-09 /pmc/articles/PMC8597716/ /pubmed/34803363 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0067517 Text en © 2021 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ).
spellingShingle ARTICLES
Dey, Prasenjit
Saha, Sandip K.
Sarkar, Sandip
Study of the interactions of sneezing droplets with particulate matter in a polluted environment
title Study of the interactions of sneezing droplets with particulate matter in a polluted environment
title_full Study of the interactions of sneezing droplets with particulate matter in a polluted environment
title_fullStr Study of the interactions of sneezing droplets with particulate matter in a polluted environment
title_full_unstemmed Study of the interactions of sneezing droplets with particulate matter in a polluted environment
title_short Study of the interactions of sneezing droplets with particulate matter in a polluted environment
title_sort study of the interactions of sneezing droplets with particulate matter in a polluted environment
topic ARTICLES
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8597716/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34803363
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0067517
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