Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States.
Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Oct 17;57(41):15392-15400. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.3c03588. Epub 2023 Oct 5.
Humans emit large salivary particles when talking, singing, and playing musical instruments, which have implications for respiratory disease transmission. Yet little work has been done to characterize the emission rates and size distributions of such particles. This work characterized large particle ( > 35 μm in aerodynamic diameter) emissions from 70 volunteers of varying age and sex while vocalizing and playing wind instruments. Mitigation efficacies for face masks (while singing) and bell covers (while playing instruments) were also examined. Geometric mean particle count emission rates varied from 3.8 min (geometric standard deviation [GSD] = 3.1) for brass instruments playing to 95.1 min (GSD = 3.8) for talking. On average, talking produced the highest emission rates for large particles, in terms of both number and mass, followed by singing and then instrument playing. Neither age, sex, CO emissions, nor loudness (average dBA) were significant predictors of large particle emissions, contrary to previous findings for smaller particle sizes (i.e., for < 35 μm). Size distributions were similar between talking and singing (count median diameter = 53.0 μm, GSD = 1.69). Bell covers did not affect large particle emissions from most wind instruments, but face masks reduced large particle count emissions for singing by 92.5% (95% CI: 97.9%, 73.7%).
当人们说话、唱歌和演奏乐器时，会呼出大量唾液颗粒，这对呼吸道疾病的传播有影响。然而，目前对于这些颗粒的排放率和粒径分布特征的研究还很少。本研究通过对 70 名不同年龄和性别的志愿者在发声和吹奏乐器时呼出的大颗粒（空气动力学直径>35μm）进行了特征描述。同时还研究了面罩（唱歌时）和喇叭罩（吹奏乐器时）的减效作用。颗粒计数的几何平均排放率从吹奏铜管乐器的 3.8 min（几何标准差 [GSD] = 3.1）变化到吹奏管乐器的 95.1 min（GSD = 3.8）。平均而言，说话产生的大颗粒排放率最高，无论是数量还是质量，其次是唱歌，然后是吹奏乐器。与之前对较小粒径（即<35μm）的研究结果相反，年龄、性别、CO 排放或响度（平均 dBA）均不是大颗粒排放的显著预测因子。说话和唱歌的粒径分布相似（计数中位径=53.0μm，GSD=1.69）。喇叭罩对大多数管乐器的大颗粒排放没有影响，但面罩使唱歌时的大颗粒计数排放量减少了 92.5%（95%置信区间：97.9%，73.7%）。
