Quanta emission rate during speaking and coughing mediated by indoor temperature and humidity
In epidemiological prospective modelling, assessing the hypothetical infectious quanta emission rate (Eq) is critical for estimating airborne infection risk. Existing Eq models overlook environmental factors such as indoor relative humidity (RH) and temperature (T), despite their importance to dropl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Environment International |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025001308 |
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| author | Vitor Lavor Jianjian Wei Omduth Coceal Sue Grimmond Zhiwen Luo |
| author_facet | Vitor Lavor Jianjian Wei Omduth Coceal Sue Grimmond Zhiwen Luo |
| author_sort | Vitor Lavor |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In epidemiological prospective modelling, assessing the hypothetical infectious quanta emission rate (Eq) is critical for estimating airborne infection risk. Existing Eq models overlook environmental factors such as indoor relative humidity (RH) and temperature (T), despite their importance to droplet evaporation dynamics. Here we include these environmental factors in a prospective Eq model based on the airborne probability functions with emitted droplet distribution for speaking and coughing activities. Our results show relative humidity and temperature have substantial influence on Eq. Drier environments exhibit a notable increase in suspended droplets (cf. moist environments), with Eq having a 10-fold increase when RH decreases from 90 % to 20 % for coughing and a 2-fold increase for speaking at a representative summer indoor environment (T = 25° C). In warmer environments, Eq values are consistently higher (cf. colder), with increases of up to 22 % for coughing and 9 % for speaking. This indicates temperature has a smaller impact than humidity. We demonstrate that indoor environmental conditions are important when quantifying the quanta emission rate using a prospective method. This is essential for assessing airborne infection risk. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-84881b08b2bc4b1ba43a2b41fb48eeda |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0160-4120 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environment International |
| spelling | doaj-art-84881b08b2bc4b1ba43a2b41fb48eeda2025-08-20T03:14:54ZengElsevierEnvironment International0160-41202025-04-0119810937910.1016/j.envint.2025.109379Quanta emission rate during speaking and coughing mediated by indoor temperature and humidityVitor Lavor0Jianjian Wei1Omduth Coceal2Sue Grimmond3Zhiwen Luo4School of the Built Environment, University of Reading, Reading, UKInstitute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Key Laboratory of Refrigeration and Cryogenics Technology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UKDepartment of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UKWelsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK; Corresponding author at: Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.In epidemiological prospective modelling, assessing the hypothetical infectious quanta emission rate (Eq) is critical for estimating airborne infection risk. Existing Eq models overlook environmental factors such as indoor relative humidity (RH) and temperature (T), despite their importance to droplet evaporation dynamics. Here we include these environmental factors in a prospective Eq model based on the airborne probability functions with emitted droplet distribution for speaking and coughing activities. Our results show relative humidity and temperature have substantial influence on Eq. Drier environments exhibit a notable increase in suspended droplets (cf. moist environments), with Eq having a 10-fold increase when RH decreases from 90 % to 20 % for coughing and a 2-fold increase for speaking at a representative summer indoor environment (T = 25° C). In warmer environments, Eq values are consistently higher (cf. colder), with increases of up to 22 % for coughing and 9 % for speaking. This indicates temperature has a smaller impact than humidity. We demonstrate that indoor environmental conditions are important when quantifying the quanta emission rate using a prospective method. This is essential for assessing airborne infection risk.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025001308Expiratory dropletsQuanta emission rateQuantaIndoorLong-range airborne transmission |
| spellingShingle | Vitor Lavor Jianjian Wei Omduth Coceal Sue Grimmond Zhiwen Luo Quanta emission rate during speaking and coughing mediated by indoor temperature and humidity Environment International Expiratory droplets Quanta emission rate Quanta Indoor Long-range airborne transmission |
| title | Quanta emission rate during speaking and coughing mediated by indoor temperature and humidity |
| title_full | Quanta emission rate during speaking and coughing mediated by indoor temperature and humidity |
| title_fullStr | Quanta emission rate during speaking and coughing mediated by indoor temperature and humidity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quanta emission rate during speaking and coughing mediated by indoor temperature and humidity |
| title_short | Quanta emission rate during speaking and coughing mediated by indoor temperature and humidity |
| title_sort | quanta emission rate during speaking and coughing mediated by indoor temperature and humidity |
| topic | Expiratory droplets Quanta emission rate Quanta Indoor Long-range airborne transmission |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025001308 |
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