The Effects of Spoken Language on Emitted Respiratory Aerosol Concentration

Lead Author Major

Bioengineering

Lead Author Status

Sophomore

Second Author Major

Bioengineering

Second Author Status

Senior

Format

Oral Presentation

Faculty Mentor Name

Seyedeh Fatemeh Khatami Firoozabadi

Faculty Mentor Department

Bioengineering

Abstract/Artist Statement

Many airborne diseases, such as COVID-19 and flu, are spread through aerosol droplets emitted by the human respiratory system. Public health officials utilized a variety of disease mitigation methods throughout the recent COVID-19 pandemic that focused on reducing the spread of respiratory droplets that carry pathogens, such as wearing face masks and increasing distance between individuals. Several studies have already proven that the concentration of aerosol particles emitted through the respiratory tract increases as the loudness of speech and proximity to the particle counter increases; however, the differences in concentration based on the language the participant is speaking has yet to be studied in detail. For this study, preliminary data was collected by having the participant sit in front of a laptop and follow the instruction on the monitor. In this study the concentration of respiratory aerosol particles and physiological data such as photoplethysmogram (PPG) and electrodermal activity (EDA) are collected during normal breathing and reading the passages. Same passage is translated to Hindi and Spanish, and the subject is instructed to repeat the experiments 5 times. Based on our preliminary results, there is very little difference between the total concentration of respiratory particles emitted when speaking English and speaking Hindi or Spanish, but there is the difference in total concentration between simply breathing and speaking.

Location

Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center

Start Date

29-4-2023 10:00 AM

End Date

29-4-2023 1:00 PM

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Apr 29th, 10:00 AM Apr 29th, 1:00 PM

The Effects of Spoken Language on Emitted Respiratory Aerosol Concentration

Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center

Many airborne diseases, such as COVID-19 and flu, are spread through aerosol droplets emitted by the human respiratory system. Public health officials utilized a variety of disease mitigation methods throughout the recent COVID-19 pandemic that focused on reducing the spread of respiratory droplets that carry pathogens, such as wearing face masks and increasing distance between individuals. Several studies have already proven that the concentration of aerosol particles emitted through the respiratory tract increases as the loudness of speech and proximity to the particle counter increases; however, the differences in concentration based on the language the participant is speaking has yet to be studied in detail. For this study, preliminary data was collected by having the participant sit in front of a laptop and follow the instruction on the monitor. In this study the concentration of respiratory aerosol particles and physiological data such as photoplethysmogram (PPG) and electrodermal activity (EDA) are collected during normal breathing and reading the passages. Same passage is translated to Hindi and Spanish, and the subject is instructed to repeat the experiments 5 times. Based on our preliminary results, there is very little difference between the total concentration of respiratory particles emitted when speaking English and speaking Hindi or Spanish, but there is the difference in total concentration between simply breathing and speaking.