The airborne lifetime of small speech droplets and their potential importance in SARS-CoV-2 transmission
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Open Access
- 13 May 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 117 (22), 11875-11877
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2006874117
Abstract
Speech droplets generated by asymptomatic carriers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are increasingly considered to be a likely mode of disease transmission. Highly sensitive laser light scattering observations have revealed that loud speech can emit thousands of oral fluid droplets per second. In a closed, stagnant air environment, they disappear from the window of view with time constants in the range of 8 to 14 min, which corresponds to droplet nuclei of ca. 4 μm diameter, or 12- to 21-μm droplets prior to dehydration. These observations confirm that there is a substantial probability that normal speaking causes airborne virus transmission in confined environments.Keywords
Funding Information
- HHS | NIH | National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK075141)
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