Quantifying Proximity, Confinement, and Interventions in Disease Outbreaks: A Decision Support Framework for Air-Transported Pathogens

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bond TC ; Bosco-Lauth A ; Farmer DK ; Fedak KM ; Francisco PW ; Ham JM ; Jathar SH ; Pierce JR ; VandeWoude S
• Description:
  The inability to communicate how infectious diseases are transmitted in human environments has triggered avoidance of interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We define a metric, Effective ReBreathed Volume (ERBV), that encapsulates how infectious pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, transport in air. ERBV separates environmental transport from other factors in the chain of infection, allowing quantitative comparisons among situations. Particle size affects transport, removal onto surfaces, and elimination by mitigation measures, so ERBV is presented for a range of exhaled particle diameters: 1, 10, and 100 µm. Pathogen transport depends on both proximity and confinement. If interpersonal distancing of 2 m is maintained, then confinement, not proximity, dominates rebreathing after 10-15 min in enclosed spaces for all but 100 µm particles. We analyze strategies to reduce this confinement effect. Ventilation and filtration reduce person-to-person transport of 1 µm particles (ERBV1) by 13-85% in residential and office situations. Deposition to surfaces competes with intentional removal for 10 and 100 µm particles, so the same interventions reduce ERBV10 by only 3-50%, and ERBV100 is unaffected. Prior knowledge of size-dependent ERBV would help identify transmission modes and effective interventions. This framework supports mitigation decisions in emerging situations, even before other infectious parameters are known. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Communicable Diseases Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Aerosol Particles Airborne Disease Author Keywords: Aerosol COVID-19 Disease Transmission Indoor Air Indoor Environments Particle Aerodynamics Particle Size Pathogens SARS-CoV-2

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• ISSN:
  0013-936X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Illinois ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  55
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068306
• Citation:
  Environ Sci Technol 2021 Mar; 55(5):2890-2898
• Contact Point Address:
  Tami C. Bond, Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States
• Email:
  tami.bond@colostate.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  Colorado State Department of Public Health & Environment
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20150701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Science and Technology
• End Date:
  20210630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1942d1c94c9cdb74aa56aac80c65d3d78b944da535a8ceb2aa45e63b421853f960f16ab28e6ca50e00ec0b59c016f0373c09555daac7680f0e77ae627c71dff0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230481/cdc_230481_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.12 MB ]