Abstract:
An improved understanding of the underlying physicochemical properties of respiratory aerosol that influence viral infectivity may open new avenues to mitigate the transmission of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. Previous studies have shown that an increase in the pH of respiratory aerosols following generation due to changes in the gas-particle partitioning of pH buffering bicarbonate ions and carbon dioxide is a significant factor in reducing SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. We show here that a significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 aerostability results from a moderate increase in the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (e.g. 800 ppm), an effect that is more marked than that observed for changes in relative humidity. We model the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission on the ambient concentration of CO2, concluding that even this moderate increase in CO2 concentration results in a significant increase in overall risk. These observations confirm the critical importance of ventilation and maintaining low CO2 concentrations in indoor environments for mitigating disease transmission. Moreover, the correlation of increased CO2 concentration with viral aerostability need to be better understood when considering the consequences of increases in ambient CO2 levels in our atmosphere.
摘要:
对影响病毒感染性的呼吸道气溶胶潜在物理化学特性的更好理解可能会为减轻COVID-19等呼吸道疾病的传播开辟新的途径。先前的研究表明,由于缓冲碳酸氢根离子和二氧化碳的pH值的气体-颗粒分配变化,生成后呼吸气溶胶的pH值增加是降低SARS-CoV-2感染性的重要因素。我们在这里表明,SARS-CoV-2空气稳定性的显着增加是由于大气二氧化碳浓度的适度增加(例如800ppm),比相对湿度变化更明显的效果。我们对环境CO2浓度下COVID-19传播的可能性进行了建模,得出的结论是,即使CO2浓度的这种适度增加也会导致总体风险显着增加。这些观察结果证实了通风和在室内环境中保持低CO2浓度对于减轻疾病传播的至关重要性。此外,当考虑大气中环境CO2水平增加的后果时,需要更好地理解CO2浓度增加与病毒空气稳定性的相关性.