Large Particle Emissions from Human Vocalization and Playing of Wind Instruments

Humans emit large salivary particles when talking, singing, and playing musical instruments, which have implications for respiratory disease transmission. Yet little work has been done to characterize the emission rates and size distributions of such particles. This work characterized large particle (d_p > 35 μm in aerodynamic diameter) emissions from 70 volunteers of varying age and sex while vocalizing and playing wind instruments. Mitigation efficacies for face masks (while singing) and bell covers (while playing instruments) were also examined. Geometric mean particle count emission rates varied from 3.8 min^–1 (geometric standard deviation [GSD] = 3.1) for brass instruments playing to 95.1 min^–1 (GSD = 3.8) for talking. On average, talking produced the highest emission rates for large particles, in terms of both number and mass, followed by singing and then instrument playing. Neither age, sex, CO₂ emissions, nor loudness (average dBA) were significant predictors of large particle emissions, contrary to previous findings for smaller particle sizes (i.e., for d_p < 35 μm). Size distributions were similar between talking and singing (count median diameter = 53.0 μm, GSD = 1.69). Bell covers did not affect large particle emissions from most wind instruments, but face masks reduced large particle count emissions for singing by 92.5% (95% CI: 97.9%, 73.7%).