Effects of Humidity and Other Factors on the Generation and Sampling of a Coronavirus Aerosol

Details

• Personal Author:
  Goyal SM ; Kim SW ; Ramakrishnan MA ; Raynor PC
• Description:
  Suspensions of transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), a porcine coronavirus, were nebulized at rates of 0.1-0.2 ml/min into moving air using a Collison nebulizer or a plastic medical nebulizer operating at pressures ranging from 7 to 15 psi. The airborne viruses were collected on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) filters in an experimental apparatus and also sampled upstream of these test filters using AGI-30 and BioSampler impinger samplers. To study the effects of relative humidity (RH) on TGEV collection by the filters and samplers, the virus was nebulized into air at 30, 50, 70, and 90% RH. There were no significant changes in virus titer in the nebulizer suspension before and after nebulization for either nebulizer at any of the pressures utilized. Aerosolization efficiency - the ratio of viable virus sampled with impingers to the quantity of viable virus nebulized - decreased with increasing humidity. BioSamplers detected more airborne virus than AGI-30 samplers at all RH levels. This difference was statistically significant at 30 and 50% RH. Nebulizer type and pressure did not significantly affect the viability of the airborne virus. Virus recovery from test filters relative to the concentration of virus in the nebulizer suspension was less than 10%. The most and the least virus were recovered from filter media at 30% and 90% RH, respectively. The results suggest that TGEV, and perhaps other coronaviruses, remain viable longer in an airborne state and are sampled more effectively at low RH than at high humidity. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Conditioning Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Air Pressure Communicable Diseases Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Hazardous Substances Humidity Inhalation Exposure Laboratories Lung Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Ventilation Viral Diseases

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• Keywords:
  Aerosol-particles Air-conditioning-equipment Air-contamination Air-filters Air-pressure Air-sampling Author Keywords: Bioaerosol Biohazards Biological-effects Coronavirus Environmental-factors Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Filters Inhalants Inhalation-studies Laboratory-testing Lung-irritants Mathematical-models Nebulizer Particle-aerodynamics Particulate-sampling-methods Particulates Physiological-effects Quantitative-analysis Risk-analysis Risk-factors Sampling Statistical-analysis TGEV Ventilation-equipment Ventilation-systems Viral-diseases Viral-infections Virus

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• ISSN:
  0393-5965
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  239-248
• Volume:
  23
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037435
• Citation:
  Aerobiologia 2007 Jun; 23(4):239-248
• Contact Point Address:
  S. W. Kim & P.C. Raynor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Mayo MC 807, 420 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
• Email:
  praynor@umn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Aerobiologia
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a4f966cd9407ff95691eeabbc83529216f49ebbc484b0fe88c84bef13c4d3ac1b77a2ebf5fda0ef9cc2edd4e099237d70a331286caa3e7e38633b8a1177226b5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188532/cdc_188532_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 251.98 KB ]