Defence Science Technology Laboratory, Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK.
School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
Viruses. 2022 May 15;14(5):1048. doi: 10.3390/v14051048.
Surface to hand transfer of viruses represents a potential mechanism for human exposure. An experimental process for evaluating the touch transfer of aerosol-deposited material is described based on controlling surface, tribological, and soft matter components of the transfer process. A range of high-touch surfaces were evaluated. Under standardized touch parameters (15 N, 1 s), relative humidity (RH) of the atmosphere around the contact transfer event significantly influenced transfer of material to the finger-pad. At RH < 40%, transfer from all surfaces was <10%. Transfer efficiency increased markedly as RH increased, reaching a maximum of approximately 50%. The quantity of material transferred at specific RHs above 40% was also dependent on roughness of the surface material and the properties of the aerosol-deposited material. Smooth surfaces, such as melamine and stainless steel, generated higher transfer efficiencies compared to those with textured roughness, such as ABS pinseal and KYDEX® plastics. Pooled human saliva was transferred at a lower rate compared to artificial saliva, indicating the role of rheological properties. The artificial saliva data were modeled by non-linear regression and the impact of environmental humidity and temperature were evaluated within a Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment model using SARS-CoV-2 as an example. This illustrated that the trade-off between transfer efficiency and virus survival may lead to the highest risks of fomite transmissions in indoor environments with higher humidity.
表面到手的病毒传播代表了人类暴露的潜在机制。本文基于控制表面、摩擦学和转移过程中的软物质成分，描述了一种评估气溶胶沉积材料接触转移的实验过程。评估了一系列高接触表面。在标准化的触摸参数（15 N，1 s）下，接触转移事件周围大气的相对湿度（RH）显著影响材料向指垫的转移。在 RH < 40%时，所有表面的转移都 <10%。随着 RH 的增加，转移效率显著增加，最高达到约 50%。在 RH 高于 40%的特定值下转移的材料量也取决于表面材料的粗糙度和气溶胶沉积材料的性质。与具有纹理粗糙度的表面材料（如 ABS 密封件和 KYDEX®塑料）相比，光滑表面（如三聚氰胺和不锈钢）的转移效率更高。与人工唾液相比， pooled human saliva 的转移速率较低，表明流变性质的作用。使用 SARS-CoV-2 作为示例，通过非线性回归对人工唾液数据进行建模，并在定量微生物风险评估模型中评估环境湿度和温度的影响。这表明，在湿度较高的室内环境中，转移效率和病毒存活之间的权衡可能导致污染物传播的风险最高。
