The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Sep 15;735:139510. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139510. Epub 2020 May 18.
The objective of this study was to investigate whether cotton mask worn by respiratory infection person could suppress respiratory droplet levels compared to medical mask. We recruited adult volunteers with confirmed influenza and suspected cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to wear medical masks and self-designed triple-layer cotton masks in a regular bedroom and a car with air conditioning. Four 1-hour repeated measurements (two measurements for bedroom the others for car) of particles with a size range of 20-1000 nm measured by number concentrations (NC), temperature and relatively humidity, and cough/sneeze counts per hour were conducted for each volunteer. The paired t-tests were used for within-group comparisons in a bedroom and in a car. The results showed that there was no significant difference in NC or cough/sneeze counts between volunteers with medical masks and cotton masks in a bedroom or a car. We concluded that the cotton mask could be a potential substitute for medical mask for respiratory infection person in microenvironment with air conditioning. Healthy people may daily use cotton mask in the community since cotton mask is washable and reusable.
本研究旨在探讨呼吸道感染患者佩戴棉质口罩是否比医用口罩能更有效地抑制呼吸飞沫水平。我们招募了确诊流感和疑似 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的成年志愿者，让他们在普通卧室和装有空调的汽车内分别佩戴医用口罩和我们自行设计的三层棉质口罩。每位志愿者进行了四次 1 小时的重复测量（两次在卧室，两次在汽车），测量范围为 20-1000nm 的粒子数浓度（NC）、温度和相对湿度，以及每小时咳嗽/打喷嚏次数。采用配对 t 检验进行了卧室和汽车内的组内比较。结果表明，在卧室或汽车内，佩戴医用口罩和棉质口罩的志愿者之间的 NC 或咳嗽/打喷嚏次数没有显著差异。我们得出结论，在有空调的微环境中，棉质口罩可能是呼吸道感染患者替代医用口罩的一种潜在选择。健康人可以在社区中日常使用棉质口罩，因为棉质口罩可清洗和重复使用。
