Aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 due to the chimney effect in two high-rise housing drainage stacks.

Autor: Wang Q; Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Li Y; Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: liyg@hku.hk., Lung DC; Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Department of Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China., Chan PT; Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Dung CH; Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Jia W; Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Miao T; Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Huang J; Department of Urban Planning and Design, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Chen W; Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Wang Z; Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Leung KM; Environmental Protection Department, Hong Kong, China., Lin Z; Division of Building Science and Technology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Wong D; Estates Office, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China., Tse H; Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Hong Kong, China., Wong SCY; Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Hong Kong, China., Choi GK; Department of Pathology, Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Hong Kong, China., Lam JY; Department of Clinical Pathology, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Hong Kong, China., To KK; Department of Microbiology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China., Cheng VC; Department of Microbiology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China., Yuen KY; Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of hazardous materials [J Hazard Mater] 2022 Jan 05; Vol. 421, pp. 126799. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Aug 02.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126799
Abstrakt: Stack aerosols are generated within vertical building drainage stacks during the discharge of wastewater containing feces and exhaled mucus from toilets and washbasins. Fifteen stack aerosol-related outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in high-rise buildings have been observed in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Currently, we investigated two such outbreaks of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, identified the probable role of chimney effect-induced airflow in a building drainage system in the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We injected tracer gas (SF6) into the drainage stacks via the water closet of the index case and monitored tracer gas concentrations in the bathrooms and along the facades of infected and non-infected flats and in roof vents. The air temperature, humidity, and pressure in vertical stacks were also monitored. The measured tracer gas distribution agreed with the observed distribution of the infected cases. Phylogenetic analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences demonstrated clonal spread from a point source in cases along the same vertical column. The stack air pressure and temperature distributions suggested that stack aerosols can spread to indoors through pipe leaks which provide direct evidence for the long-range aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through drainage pipes via the chimney effect.
(Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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