A wearable air sampler clip can monitor personal exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
Credit: Adapted from Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2022, DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00877
Masks, social distancing, proper hygiene and ventilation can help reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in public places, but even with these measures, scientists have detected airborne SARS-CoV-2 in indoor settings.
Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters have developed a passive air sampler clip that can help assess personal exposure to SARS-CoV-2, which could be especially helpful for workers in high-risk settings, such as restaurants or health care facilities.
COVID-19 is primarily transmitted through the inhalation of virus-laden aerosols and respiratory droplets that infected individuals expel by coughing, sneezing, speaking or breathing. Researchers have used active air sampling devices to detect airborne SARS-CoV-2 in indoor settings; however, these monitors are typically large, expensive, non-portable and require electricity. To better understand personal exposures to the virus, Krystal Pollitt and colleagues wanted to develop a small, lightweight, inexpensive and wearable device that doesn’t require a power source.
The researchers developed a wearable passive air sampler, known as the Fresh Air Clip, that continually adsorbs virus-laden aerosols on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface. The team tested the air sampler in a rotating drum in which they generated aerosols containing a surrogate virus, a bacteriophage with similar properties to SARS-CoV-2. They detected virus on the PDMS sampler using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), showing that the device could be used to reliably estimate airborne virus concentrations. Then, the researchers distributed Fresh Air Clips to 62 volunteers, who wore the monitors for five days. PCR analysis of the clips detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in five of the clips: Four were worn by restaurant servers and one by a homeless shelter staff person. The highest viral loads (more than 100 RNA copies per clip) were detected in two badges from restaurant servers. Although the Fresh Air Clip has not yet been commercialized, these results indicate that it could serve as a semiquantitative screening tool for assessing personal exposure to SARS-CoV-2, as well as help identify high-risk areas for indoor exposure, the researchers say.
Original Article: Wearable air sampler assesses personal exposure to SARS-CoV-2
More from: American Chemical Society | Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Wearable air sampling device
- Pregnant women could soon watch their baby grow in the womb on their PHONE with new ultrasound 'stickers' that are the size of a postage stamp
Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a wearable device the size of a postage ... this by keeping the gel in an air barrier, meaning they have greater ...
- Verdantix calls for employers to take steps to protect staff from physical climate risks
The firm advocated for the use of a number of technology solutions to manage physical climate health and safety risks ...
- Heat Waves Blister Textile Supply Chain Workers, These Tech Investments Could Help: Short Takes
Not only in the case of field workers laboring in sweltering heats, but any task where heat overexposure can occur, wearable climate ... to gather sampling data (on air quality, noise, pollutants ...
- Heat Waves Blister Textile Supply Chain Workers, These Tech Investments Could Help: Short Takes
Bill Pennington, research director, environment, health and safety at Verdantix, told WWD that textile workers are among those with greater risk. “Textile workers typically face ...
- Medical Hacks
the nominal sampling rate of the wearable they were investigating and of other similar devices. That might suggest why your wearable is a bit iffy when monitoring your sleeping habits. They even ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Wearable air sampling device
Go deeper with Bing News on:
SARS-CoV-2 wearable air sampling device
- PloS one
Are one's attachment avoidance toward a particular person and his/her placement of this particular person in the attachment hierarchy inversely overlapping? Four bifactor-analysis studies.
- Precision Medicine 2017
Precision Medicine 2017 was a success and is now availabe On-Demand! Imagine receiving a full diagnosis from a simple blood test, or the ability to tailor the perfect treatment to your individual ...
- Precision Medicine 2017
Precision Medicine 2017 was a success and is now availabe On-Demand! Imagine receiving a full diagnosis from a simple blood test, or the ability to tailor the perfect treatment to your individual ...
- social distancing
By sampling the microphone and applying a rolling average, the Arduino Nano determines if the mouth drawn on the display should be open or closed. A small battery pack on a belt clip (with a ...
- Senior Design
Our team was tasked with the design of an attachable device for the helmet and hood of Stryker’s ... This project addresses the lack of N95-equivalent protection from airborne viruses like SARS-CoV-2.