Info

This page contains links to news and information relating to face masks and virus transmission by aerosol from the aerosol science perspective. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list (there are not enough hours in the day to keep track of everything that is being said on this issue!), but instead provides links to information that the UCI Face Mask Team have used in our research. It is organized accordingly:

Journal Articles and Reports

Reducing the Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (June 26, 2020), Kimberly A. Prather, et al., Science. This is one of the early articles that called for increased awareness of aerosol spread of coronavirus.

Effectiveness of Surgical and Cotton Masks in Blocking SARS–CoV-2: A Controlled Comparison in 4 Patients (April 6, 2020), Seongman Bae, et al., Annals of Internal Medicine. Interesting study that took patients sickened with COVID-19 and asked them to cough while wearing different masks. The surgical and cloth masks did not prevent the spread of the virus.

Aerosol Filtration Efficiency of Common Fabrics Used in Respiratory Cloth Masks (April 24, 2020), Abhiteja Konda, et al., ACS Nano. Another study of the filtration efficiencies of a variety of commonly available mask materials.

Visualizing Speech-Generated Oral Fluid Droplets with Laser Light Scattering (April 15, 2020), Correspondence in The New England Journal of Medicine. This is a cool visualization method that shows aerosol generation while speaking.

Droplets and Aerosols in the Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (April 15, 2020), Matthew Meselson, Editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Rapid Expert Consultation on the Effectiveness of Fabric Masks for the COVID-19 Pandemic (April 8, 2020), Report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

What aerosol physics tells us about airborne pathogen transmission (April 13, 2020), Yannis Drossinos & Nikolaos I. Stilianakis, Editorial in Aerosol Science and Technology.

The coronavirus pandemic and aerosols: Does COVID-19 transmit via expiratory particles? (April 3, 2020), Sima Asadi, Nicole Bouvier, Anthony S. Wexler &William D. Ristenpart, Editorial in Aerosol Science and Technology.

COVID-19 and the Air We Breathe (April 15, 2020), V. Faye McNeill, Editorial in the American Chemical Society’s Earth and Space Chemistry.

Testing the Efficacy of Homemade Masks: Would They Protect in an Influenza Pandemic? (August 2013), Anna Davis, et al., Peer-reviewed article in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.

News Media

Articles and editorials from the New York Times. This is a collection that emerges from the NY Times web page by using the search phrase “coronavirus mask” (the NY Times is providing free access to all of their COVID-19 outbreak coverage).

Coronavirus drifts through the air in microscopic droplets – here’s the science of infectious aerosols (April 24, 2020), Shelly Miller, The Conversation. If you read just one article about what we know about the spread of SARS-CoV2 by aerosol particles, this should be the one!

Widely Used Surgical Masks Are Putting Health Care Workers at Serious Risk (April 28, 2020), Shefali Luthra and Christina Jewett, Scientific American. This article explains the purpose of surgical masks and why they do not protect the wearer.

Here’s exactly how well 20 materials for homemade masks — from folded bandanas to blue shop towels — can filter tiny, potentially-dangerous particles, according to an N95 testing company (April 25, 2020), Julie Bort, Business Insider. More data on mask material filtration efficiencies. Note that subtracting the pressure drop across the mask from filtration efficiency is not the standard way to account for “breathability.” The better measure is called “filter quality factor.”

Finding effective face mask fabric (April 16, 2020) Lucas Joel, UCI News. Here’s an article on the UCI Face Mask Project.

Coronavirus drifts through the air in microscopic droplets – here’s the science of infectious aerosols (April 24, 2020) Shelly Miller, The Conversation. This is an excellent summary of the fast-moving science of infections aerosols.

The Real Reason to Wear a Mask (April 22, 2020) Zeynep Tufekcijeremy, et al. Addresses public confusion over why we were face masks.

Why There Are So Many Different Guidelines For Face Masks For The Public
(April 10, 2020) Huo Jingnan, National Public Radio.

COVID-19: Why We Should All Wear Masks — There is New Scientific Rationale (March 26, 2020) Sui Huang. This is a nice overview will great illustrations.

Links

Prof. Yang Wang, Missouri University of Science and Technology (Web Page, Twitter) Prof. Wang’s research group has been testing a wide range of household materials and common commercial fabrics that can be used to manufacture masks. The results of these tests are updated daily on his web page.

Prof. Linsey Marr, Virginia Tech (Web Page, Twitter) Prof. Marr is an expert in airborne disease transmission, air quality, and nanotechnology and has been a prominent voice in the discussion of the airborne transmission of coronavirus.

Prof. Pratim Biswas, Washington University of St. Louis (Web Page, Twitter) Prof. Biswas heads the Aerosol and Air Quality Research Lab and has been active in public education of aerosol science as relates to masks and virus transmission.

Prof. Athanasios Nenes, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Web Page, Twitter) Prof. Nenes is one of several aerosol researchers who have temporarily focused their research on the coronavirus response. He also provides insights into the response by the European community.

Suay Community Mask Coalition (Web Page) While there are likely hundreds of businesses that have set aside normal operations and turned to making masks for the public and medical workers, Suay’s use of shop towels and the quality of this masks (they are, after all, garment makers) stands out.