ArticleJournal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology2022
Effects of surgical masks on aerosol dispersion in professional singing.
Article in Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Aerosol emission rates from breathing, speaking, and speaking with a surgical mask.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Assessing the generation and dispersal of respiratory particles using upper respiratory commensal bacteria as index organisms for respiratory pathogens.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Assessing the impact of architectural and behavioral interventions for controlling indoor COVID-19 infection risk: An agent-based approach.Journal of building engineering · 2023Article
- Airborne infections related to virus aerosol contamination at indoor cultural venues: Recommendations on how to minimize.Public health challenges · 2023Review
- A critical review on the role of leakages in the facemask protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection with consideration of vaccination and virus variants.Indoor air · 2022Review
- Evaluation of Respiratory Particle Emission during Otorhinolaryngological Procedures in the Context of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Impulse dispersion of aerosols during playing the recorder and evaluation of safety measures.PloS one · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn the CoVID-19 pandemic, singing came into focus as a high-risk activity for the infection with airborne viruses and was therefore forbidden by many governmental administrations.
objectiveThe aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of surgical masks regarding the spatial and temporal dispersion of aerosol and droplets during professional singing.
methodsTen professional singers performed a passage of the Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ode of Joy" in two experimental setups-each with and without surgical masks. First, they sang with previously inhaled vapor of e-cigarettes. The emitted cloud was recorded by three cameras to measure its dispersion dynamics. Secondly, the naturally expelled larger droplets were illuminated by a laser light sheet and recorded by a high-speed camera.
resultsThe exhaled vapor aerosols were decelerated and deflected by the mask and stayed in the singer's near-field around and above their heads. In contrast, without mask, the aerosols spread widely reaching distances up to 1.3 m. The larger droplets were reduced by up to 86% with a surgical mask worn. SIGNIFICANCE: The study shows that surgical masks display an effective tool to reduce the range of aerosol dispersion during singing. In combination with an appropriate aeration strategy for aerosol removal, choir singers could be positioned in a more compact assembly without contaminating neighboring singers all singers.
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Registered trials
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