Quantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Abstract The ongoing worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 has set personal protective equipment in the spotlight. A significant number of countries impose the use of facemasks in public spaces and encourage it in the private sphere. Even in countries where relatively high vaccination rates are achieved at...

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Autores principales:	Jean Schmitt, Jing Wang
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6990b52c30be4219918808574d139b65
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6990b52c30be4219918808574d139b652021-12-02T17:37:35ZQuantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-210.1038/s41598-021-98895-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/6990b52c30be4219918808574d139b652021-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98895-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The ongoing worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 has set personal protective equipment in the spotlight. A significant number of countries impose the use of facemasks in public spaces and encourage it in the private sphere. Even in countries where relatively high vaccination rates are achieved at present, breakthrough infections have been frequently reported and usage of facemasks in certain settings has been recommended again. Alternative solutions, including community masks fabricated using various materials, such as cotton or jersey, have emerged alongside facemasks following long-established standards (e.g., EN 149, EN 14683). In the present work, we present a computational model to calculate the ability of different types of facemasks to reduce the exposure to virus-laden respiratory particles, with a focus on the relative importance of the filtration properties and the fitting on the wearer’s face. The model considers the facemask and the associated leakage, the transport of respiratory particles and their accumulation around the emitter, as well as the fraction of the inhaled particles deposited in the respiratory system. Different levels of leakages are considered to represent the diversity of fittings likely to be found among a population of non-trained users. The leakage prevails over the filtration performance of a facemask in determining the exposure level, and the ability of a face protection to limit leakages needs to be taken into account to accurately estimate the provided protection. Filtering facepieces (FFP) provide a better protection efficiency than surgical and community masks due to their higher filtration efficiency and their ability to provide a better fit and thus reduce the leakages. However, an improperly-fitted FFP mask loses a critical fraction of its protection efficiency, which may drop below the protection level provided by properly-worn surgical and community masks.Jean SchmittJing WangNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Jean Schmitt Jing Wang Quantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2
description	Abstract The ongoing worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 has set personal protective equipment in the spotlight. A significant number of countries impose the use of facemasks in public spaces and encourage it in the private sphere. Even in countries where relatively high vaccination rates are achieved at present, breakthrough infections have been frequently reported and usage of facemasks in certain settings has been recommended again. Alternative solutions, including community masks fabricated using various materials, such as cotton or jersey, have emerged alongside facemasks following long-established standards (e.g., EN 149, EN 14683). In the present work, we present a computational model to calculate the ability of different types of facemasks to reduce the exposure to virus-laden respiratory particles, with a focus on the relative importance of the filtration properties and the fitting on the wearer’s face. The model considers the facemask and the associated leakage, the transport of respiratory particles and their accumulation around the emitter, as well as the fraction of the inhaled particles deposited in the respiratory system. Different levels of leakages are considered to represent the diversity of fittings likely to be found among a population of non-trained users. The leakage prevails over the filtration performance of a facemask in determining the exposure level, and the ability of a face protection to limit leakages needs to be taken into account to accurately estimate the provided protection. Filtering facepieces (FFP) provide a better protection efficiency than surgical and community masks due to their higher filtration efficiency and their ability to provide a better fit and thus reduce the leakages. However, an improperly-fitted FFP mask loses a critical fraction of its protection efficiency, which may drop below the protection level provided by properly-worn surgical and community masks.
format	article
author	Jean Schmitt Jing Wang
author_facet	Jean Schmitt Jing Wang
author_sort	Jean Schmitt
title	Quantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2
title_short	Quantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2
title_full	Quantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2
title_fullStr	Quantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2
title_full_unstemmed	Quantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2
title_sort	quantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of sars-cov-2
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6990b52c30be4219918808574d139b65
work_keys_str_mv	AT jeanschmitt quantitativemodelingoftheimpactoffacemasksandassociatedleakageontheairbornetransmissionofsarscov2 AT jingwang quantitativemodelingoftheimpactoffacemasksandassociatedleakageontheairbornetransmissionofsarscov2
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Quantitative modeling of the impact of facemasks and associated leakage on the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2

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