Researchers from the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a way to use carbon dioxide monitors (CO2) To help estimate the risks of contracting coronavirus and other airborne diseases in near real time.
According to a report by the site time now news It could help track the evolving risks of transmission in enclosed spaces such as schools and offices, the researchers said, and may also lay the foundation for future air quality monitoring systems..
“We’ve shown how it can be used in conjunction with our own safety guidelines to assess this risk and hope to inform personal and political decisions about closing and reopening indoor spaces such as schools and businesses,” said Martin Bazant, professor of chemicals, engineering and applied mathematics at MIT.
The team produced a mathematical model estimating the average time it takes to become infected when sharing a space with a person infected with the Corona virus. who are at risk, what they do and whether ventilation and masks are in use.
The team combined measurements about how much air people breathe in and the rate at which it is removed by ventilation with three models, which look at gas dynamics, infectious aerosols, those virus-carrying droplets, and disease transmission..
They stressed that the concentrations of carbon dioxide and airborne pathogens are not strictly related, as the amount of virus in the air is affected by a number of factors, including the use of face masks..
So their model takes into account other variables that include not only masks, but ventilation, use of air purification, activity levels and the number of people likely to be infectious or susceptible to infection at different stages of the pandemic..
The researchers said the systems can predict rates of transmission of airborne diseases such as the coronavirus or seasonal influenza, and work in coordination with ventilation systems to control indoor air to keep the risk of transmission low..
