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. 2022 Jul;43(7):915-917.
doi: 10.1017/ice.2022.103. Epub 2022 Apr 5.

If you can't measure it, you can't improve it: Practical tools to assess ventilation and airflow patterns to reduce the risk for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and other airborne pathogens

Jennifer L Cadnum  1 , Curtis J Donskey  2   3
Affiliations

If you can't measure it, you can't improve it: Practical tools to assess ventilation and airflow patterns to reduce the risk for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and other airborne pathogens

Jennifer L Cadnum et al. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2022 Jul.
No abstract available

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Examples that illustrate the use of several tools to assess ventilation and airflow. (A) Increase in carbon dioxide levels in parts per million (ppm) and 1–10 µm diameter airborne particles in a nonventilated versus ventilated room (6 air changes per hour) occupied by 2 people. (B) Clearance of 5% sodium chloride solution aerosol particles (1–10 µm diameter) released into the nonventilated and ventilated rooms using a nebulizer. (C) Increase in carbon dioxide levels in parts per million (ppm) in a movie theater with >90% occupancy versus the same theater with ∼40% occupancy. Peak levels of carbon dioxide above 800 ppm (dotted lines) were considered an indicator of suboptimal ventilation for the number of occupants present. *, exiting the theater.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ventilation in buildings. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/ventilation.html. Published 2021. Accessed March 16, 2021.
    1. Huang Q, Marzouk T, Cirligeanu R, Malmstrom H, Eliav E, Ren YF. Ventilation assessment by carbon dioxide levels in dental treatment rooms. J Den Res 2021;100:810–816. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wargocki P, Da Silva NA. Use of visual CO2 feedback as a retrofit solution for improving classroom air quality. Indoor Air 2015;25:105–114. - PubMed
    1. Haq MF, Cadnum JL, Carlisle M, Hecker MT, Donskey CJ. SARS in cars: carbon dioxide levels provide a simple means to assess ventilation in motor vehicles. Pathog Immun 2022;7:19–30. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cadnum JL, Alhmidi H, Donskey CJ. Planes, trains, and automobiles: use of carbon dioxide monitoring to assess ventilation during travel. Pathog Immun 2022. doi: 10.20411/pai.v7i1.495. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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