Aerosol emission in professional singing of classical music

Dirk Mürbe,Hansjörg Rotheudt,Mario Fleischer,Martin Kriegel,Julia Lange

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-93281-x

Abstract

In this study, emission rates of aerosols emitted by professional singers were measured with a laser particle counter under cleanroom conditions. The emission rates during singing varied between 753 and 6093 particles/sec with a median of 1537 particles/sec. Emission rates for singing were compared with data for breathing and speaking. Significantly higher emission rates were found for singing. The emission enhancements between singing and speaking were between 4.0 and 99.5 with a median of 17.4, largely due to higher sound pressure levels when singing. Further, significant effects of vocal loudness were found, whereas there were no significant differences between the investigated voice classifications. The present study supports the efforts to improve the risk management in cases of possible aerogenic virus transmission, especially for choir singing.

Highlights

In this study, emission rates of aerosols emitted by professional singers were measured with a laser particle counter under cleanroom conditions
The shape of the size distributions is nearly independent of the test conditions
The results confirm the previous observations of higher emission rates for singing compared to breathing and s peaking[14]

Summary

Introduction

Emission rates of aerosols emitted by professional singers were measured with a laser particle counter under cleanroom conditions. The emission rates during singing varied between 753 and 6093 particles/sec with a median of 1537 particles/sec. Emission rates for singing were compared with data for breathing and speaking. Higher emission rates were found for singing. The emission enhancements between singing and speaking were between 4.0 and 99.5 with a median of. The present study supports the efforts to improve the risk management in cases of possible aerogenic virus transmission, especially for choir singing. COVID-19 disease produce aerosol particles containing infectious viruses, detectable up to 4.8 m away from the patient[2]. Virus-laden aerosol particles are detected in hospital rooms, despite mechanical ventilation with 12 air changes per h. The particles become lighter, can float in the air for longer periods[6] and spread in enclosed rooms by airflow and turbulent

Methods

Results

Conclusion