Mapping Aerosolized Saliva on Face Coverings for Biosensing Applications.

ABSTRACT: Facemasks in congregate settings prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and help control the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic because face coverings can arrest transmission of respiratory droplets. While many groups have studied face coverings as personal protective equipment, these respiratory droplets can also serve as a diagnostic fluid to report on health state; surprisingly, studies of face coverings from this perspective are quite limited. Here, we determined the concentration and distribution of aerosolized saliva (via α-amylase levels) captured on various face coverings. Our results showed that α-amylase accumulated on face coverings in a time-dependent way albeit at different levels, e.g., neck gaiters and surgical masks captured about 3-fold more α-amylase than clot

SUBMITTER: Jin Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8543450 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature