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- Title
Effect of Relative Humidity on Transfer of Aerosol-Deposited Artificial and Human Saliva from Surfaces to Artificial Finger-Pads.
- Authors
Walker, Maurice D.; Vincent, Jack C.; Benson, Lee; Stone, Corinne A.; Harris, Guy; Ambler, Rachael E.; Watts, Pat; Slatter, Tom; López-García, Martín; King, Marco-Felipe; Noakes, Catherine J.; Thomas, Richard J.
- Abstract
Surface to hand transfer of viruses represents a potential mechanism for human exposure. An experimental process for evaluating the touch transfer of aerosol-deposited material is described based on controlling surface, tribological, and soft matter components of the transfer process. A range of high-touch surfaces were evaluated. Under standardized touch parameters (15 N, 1 s), relative humidity (RH) of the atmosphere around the contact transfer event significantly influenced transfer of material to the finger-pad. At RH < 40%, transfer from all surfaces was <10%. Transfer efficiency increased markedly as RH increased, reaching a maximum of approximately 50%. The quantity of material transferred at specific RHs above 40% was also dependent on roughness of the surface material and the properties of the aerosol-deposited material. Smooth surfaces, such as melamine and stainless steel, generated higher transfer efficiencies compared to those with textured roughness, such as ABS pinseal and KYDEX® plastics. Pooled human saliva was transferred at a lower rate compared to artificial saliva, indicating the role of rheological properties. The artificial saliva data were modeled by non-linear regression and the impact of environmental humidity and temperature were evaluated within a Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment model using SARS-CoV-2 as an example. This illustrated that the trade-off between transfer efficiency and virus survival may lead to the highest risks of fomite transmissions in indoor environments with higher humidity.
- Subjects
ARTIFICIAL saliva; HUMIDITY; FINGERS; SALIVA; NONLINEAR regression; SURFACE roughness; RHEOLOGY
- Publication
Viruses (1999-4915), 2022, Vol 14, Issue 5, p1048
- ISSN
1999-4915
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/v14051048