10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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Aerosol Particle Emission and Super-emission during Human Speech
SIMA ASADI, Anthony S. Wexler, Christopher Cappa, Nicole M. Bouvier, Santiago Barreda, William D. Ristenpart, University of California Davis
Abstract Number: 1446 Working Group: Infectious Bioaerosol
Abstract The traditional emphasis for airborne disease transmission has been on coughing and sneezing, which are dramatic expiratory events that yield easily visible droplets. Nonetheless, it has long been known that normal speech also yields expiratory aerosol particles. Recent research indicates that, compared to coughing, speech can actually release even larger quantities of such particles that are too small to see by eye, but are large enough to carry a variety of communicable respiratory pathogens. Here we show that the rate of aerosol particle emission during normal human speech is strongly correlated with the loudness (amplitude) of vocalization, ranging from approximately 1 particle per second for soft speech to over 50 particles per second at high amplitudes, regardless of the language spoken (English, Spanish, Mandarin, or Arabic). Furthermore, a small fraction of individuals behave as “superemitters,” consistently releasing an order of magnitude more aerosol particles than their peers. The results suggest that individual speech patterns could affect the probability of airborne respiratory disease transmission, and also help explain the existence of “superspreaders” who are disproportionately responsible for outbreaks of airborne infectious disease.