Since the emergence of COVID-19, the effectiveness of face masks has been a topic of debate. A new study by researchers at the University of Central Florida shows that they work.
The researchers found that wearing a face mask reduced the distance airborne pathogens could travel when speaking or coughing by more than half.
The findings are important because airborne viral pathogens can be encapsulated and transmitted through liquid droplets and aerosols.
Knowing ways to reduce this transmission distance can help keep people safe and aid in managing responses to Pandemics, such as COVD-19, which has resulted in global-scale infections, health care system overloads, and economic damage.
When masks are worn, there could be some relaxing of social distancing guidelines.
The research shows that 3 feet of distance with face coverings is better than 6 feet of distance without face coverings.
The researchers used diagnostic tools to measure the distance between people and droplets and aerosols when wearing different types of masks.
Fourteen people were involved in the study, 11 males and 3 females.
Each participant wore a disposable surgical mask and a cloth face covering while they pretended a cough for 5 minutes.
Planar particle imager was used to measure particle velocity, phase doppler interferometer was used to measure droplet size, and an aerodynamic particle sizer was used to determine airborne particle behavior.
The airborne particles were measured by the instruments as they traveled from participants' mouths.
The researchers found that a cloth face covering reduced emissions in all directions to about two feet compared to four feet of emissions when coughing or speaking with no mask on.
When wearing a surgical mask, coughing and speaking emissions were reduced by half a foot.
The idea for the study came from the research they do.
"The principles are the same," he says. Our speech and cough are exhausted.
The study is part of the researchers' larger effort to control airborne disease transmission, including through food ingredients, a better understanding of factors related to being a super-spreader, and the modeling of airborne disease transmission in classrooms.
Researchers are going to expand the study with more people. The National Science Foundation funds the work.
The co-authors of the study were Jonathan Reyes, a lead author and a researcher, and others. The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida has all of them.
The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is part of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida. He is a member of the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion. He was a senior aero/thermo engineer at Pratt & Whitney military engines. He was a faculty member at both Florida State University and Old Dominion University.
He is leading research in energy with applications for power generation and gas-turbine engines, hypersonics, and fire safety, as well as research related to supernova science and COVID-19 transmission control.
He received his degree in mechanical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a faculty fellow at the Office of Naval Research and an associate fellow at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Kinzel joined UCF after receiving his doctorate in engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He is a member of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida and also works with the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research.
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The University of Central Florida has some materials. Robert Wells wrote the original. Content can be edited for style and length.
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