Researchers at the American Chemical Society study aerosol production from live performers.
- ByStartupStory | September 28, 2021
Due to the pandemic, the live music industry had to be shut down. There was the fear of airborne transmission looming over the population. For the sake of the safety of the performers, audiences and folks related to music, Tehya Stockman, Shelly Miller, and colleagues wanted to examine the production of aerosol and flow from various musical activities, and to test different strategies to alleviate the effect.
The researchers studied the extent and velocity with which air jets come out from singers’ and actors’ mouths and from wind instruments, like the flute, clarinet, trumpet and so on. They measured airborne respiratory particles, or aerosols, and carbon dioxide levels coming out from the performers. They found that aerosol concentrations coming from the bell of a clarinet were similar to singing and placing a surgical mask over a singer’s face or over the clarinet bell reduced plume velocities and lengths as well as decreased the aerosol concentrations in front of the masks. They further experimented with these measurements they acquired to figure out the viral transmissions in the indoor and outdoor settings and realized that the lowest risk of airborne COVID-19 infection occurred at less than 30 minutes of exposure indoors and less than 60 minutes outdoors. Researchers believe that this could help live musical performers resume in a safe way.
Follow Startup Story
Related Posts
