Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34552317›Full record

ArticlePhysics of fluids (Woodbury, N.Y. : 1994)2021

Efficacy of homemade face masks against human coughs: Insights on penetration, atomization, and aerosolization of cough droplets.

Bal Krishan, Dipendra Gupta, Gautham Vadlamudi, Shubham Sharma, Dipshikha Chakravortty, Saptarshi Basu

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Physics of fluids (Woodbury, N.Y. : 1994), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 6% 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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Demonstration of a Home Laundering Method for Cloth Facepieces to Achieve Hygienic and Sustainable Reuse.New solutions : a journal of environmental and occupational health policy : NS · 2025
    Article
  2. Assessing the behavior of food handlers wearing face masks and the passage of bacteria through disposable masks.Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] · 2025
    Article
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  4. Review
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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 1 institution in 1 country.

Bal KrishanDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka 560012, India.
Dipendra GuptaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka 560012, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9889-8490
Gautham VadlamudiDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka 560012, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5288-1001
Shubham SharmaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka 560012, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8704-887X
Indian Institute of Science Bangalore · IN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ever since the emergence of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the usage of makeshift facemasks is generally advised by policymakers as a possible substitute for commercially available surgical or N95 face masks. Although such endorsements could be economical and easily accessible in various low per-capita countries, the experimental evidence on the effectiveness of such recommendations is still lacking. In this regard, we carried out a detailed experimental investigation to study the fate of a large-sized surrogate cough droplet impingement at different velocities (corresponding to mild to severe coughs) on various locally procured cloth fabrics. Observation shows that larger ejected droplets (droplets that would normally settle as fomites in general) during a coughing event have enough momentum to penetrate single-layer cloth masks; the penetrated volume atomize into smaller daughter droplets that fall within aerosol range, thereby increasing infection potential. Theoretically, two essential criteria based on the balances of viscous dissipation-kinetic energy and surface tension-kinetic energy effects have been suggested for the droplet penetration through mask layers. Furthermore, a new parameter called

Identifiers

PMID34552317
PMCPMC8450911
OpenAlexW3199363408

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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.