Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34324848›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental research2021

SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission: A validated sampling and analytical method.

Angelo Robotto, Andrea Civra, Paola Quaglino, Denis Polato, Enrico Brizio, David Lembo

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Early Warning Signs for Monitoring Airborne Respiratory Virus Transmission.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Angelo RobottoEnvironmental Protection Agency of Piedmont (Arpa Piemonte), Via Pio VII 9, 10135, Torino, Italy.
Andrea CivraDept. of Clinical and Biological Science, University of Torino, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, Torino, Italy. Electronic address: andrea.civra@unito.it.
Paola QuaglinoEnvironmental Protection Agency of Piedmont (Arpa Piemonte), Via Pio VII 9, 10135, Torino, Italy.
Denis PolatoEnvironmental Protection Agency of Piedmont (Arpa Piemonte), Via Pio VII 9, 10135, Torino, Italy.
Enrico BrizioEnvironmental Protection Agency of Piedmont (Arpa Piemonte), Via Pio VII 9, 10135, Torino, Italy.
David LemboDept. of Clinical and Biological Science, University of Torino, Regione Gonzole 10, 10043, Orbassano, Torino, Italy.
Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione Ambientale del Piemonte · ITUniversity of Turin · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The airborne transmission path for SARS-CoV-2 is of primary scientific and health-related interest as it could actually involve management, accessibility, use and functionality of many activities, including hospitals), schools, workplaces, factories, transport, sport venues and outdoor environment. It is necessary to develop a sampling and analytical method for virus-laden bioaerosol that could be considered reliable and validated according to ISO/IEC 17025 requirements. The present paper defines sample pretreatments aiming at recover SARS-CoV-2 from glass-fiber and PTFE filters employed by low and high-volume air samplers. Recovery test results focused on the sample concentration step carried out by means of ultracentrifugation are reported as well. Human coronavirus strain OC43 (a surrogate β-coronavirus with the same SARS-CoV-2 particle structure) was used to validate each step of the recovery tests. We found that the elution efficiency of coronavirus OC43 from glass-fiber and quartz filters could be strongly enhanced by using an elution buffer containing up to 40% of fetal calf serum. Moreover, the recovery from PTFE filters is much higher and easier than from glass-fiber filters: for glass-fiber filters a 3 h-shaking phase, followed by a 30 s-vortexing step, are necessary to elute viral infective particles; for PTFE, 60 min-shaking is enough. The effect of suction time on filters could be resumed as follows: sampling durations up to 20 min at a flow rate of 500 L/min do not affect recovery efficiencies from 10 cm glass-fiber filters, whereas the recovery efficiency of infectious virions from 4.7 cm PTFE filters decreases of a factor 2 after 3 h of sampling at a flow rate of 20 L/min. The recovery efficiency of ultracentrifugation turns out to be around 57%. The effect of storage temperature of filters immersed in a transport medium on coronavirus infectivity is assessed as well. Based on the sampling techniques and the analytical methods developed as described in the present study, many field tests were carried out reporting virus concentrations up to 50 genomic copies per cubic meter of air in domestic environment with poor ventilation condition, whereas in hospital wards the detectable concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 were generally lower than 10 genomic copies per cubic meter of air.

Indexed as

COVID-19VirusesHumansSARS-CoV-2Specimen HandlingAirborne transmissionBioaerosolGlass-fiber filterHigh-volume samplerPTFE filterSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID34324848
PMCPMC8313792
OpenAlexW3185781613

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.