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Bioaerosols in the Performing Arts: Quantifying Aerosol Emissions from Speech, Song, and Wind Instruments
Kristen Fedak, Nicholas Good, Christian L'Orange, Ky Tanner, Amy Keisling, Emily Morton, Dan Goble, Rebecca Phillips, JOHN VOLCKENS, Colorado State University
Abstract Number: 401
Working Group: Infectious Aerosols in the Age of COVID-19
Abstract
Airborne transmission, whether by large droplets or smaller aerosols, is considered the primary mode of infection for COVID-19. Several “super-spreading” events have been linked to performing arts activities, presumably due to the close proximity of people and the increased bioaerosol emission rates from speech, song, and wind instruments. Prior to the pandemic, little was known about bioaerosol emissions (and exposures) in the performing arts. The objective of this work, therefore, was to quantify aerosol emission rates from a panel of human volunteers who participate in performing arts activities. We recruited 100 participants of both sexes and ranging in age from 12 to 63 years; participants were limited to those who practice within the performing arts (either acting, dance, vocal, or wind instruments). Over a ~2hr study session, participants performed a series of maneuvers within a cleanroom environment (e.g., talking, singing, playing an instrument) while aerosol emission rates were quantified using a constant-volume dilution system with isokinetic sampling. We employed an ensemble of measurement techniques to characterize size-resolved emission rates of particles ranging from ~7 nanometers to 500 microns in diameter. We also characterized sound pressure levels (i.e. volume), CO2 mixing ratio, temperature, and humidity continuously. Linear models were developed to examine trends in number emission rates by maneuver and participant characteristics. To our knowledge, this is the largest controlled laboratory study of human bioaerosol emissions to date. We found that aerosol emission rates vary logarithmically (by up to a factor of 20x) between participants. Sex is an important determinant of particle number emissions, and volume is confirmed as a driving factor for vocal emissions. When normalized to exhaled CO2, the effect of sex is attenuated, which suggests that monitoring of both CO2 and volume can provide important feedback for control of infection risk indoors.