Inhaled Water and Salt Suppress Respiratory Droplet Generation and COVID-19 Incidence and Death on US Coastlines
Dry air alters salt and water balance in the upper airways and increases the risks of COVID-19 among other respiratory diseases. We explored whether such upper airway variations in salt and water balance might alter respiratory droplet generation and potentially contribute to observed impacts of air...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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World Scientific Publishing
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Molecular Frontiers Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2529732521400058 |
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| author | Rachel D. Field Nathan Moelis Jonathan Salzman Adriaan Bax Dennis Ausiello Sophie M. Woodward Xiao Wu Francesca Dominici David A. Edwards |
| author_facet | Rachel D. Field Nathan Moelis Jonathan Salzman Adriaan Bax Dennis Ausiello Sophie M. Woodward Xiao Wu Francesca Dominici David A. Edwards |
| author_sort | Rachel D. Field |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Dry air alters salt and water balance in the upper airways and increases the risks of COVID-19 among other respiratory diseases. We explored whether such upper airway variations in salt and water balance might alter respiratory droplet generation and potentially contribute to observed impacts of airway hydration on respiratory disease. In a randomized 4-arm study of 21 healthy human subjects we found that the breathing of humid air, the wearing of cotton masks, and the delivery of (sodium, calcium, and magnesium chloride) salt droplets sized to deposit in the nose, trachea, and main bronchi similarly reduce the exhalation of respiratory droplets by approximately 50% ([Formula: see text] < 0.05) within 10 minutes following hydration. Respiratory droplet generation returns to relatively high baseline levels within 60–90 minutes on return to dry air in all cases other than on exposure to divalent (calcium and magnesium) salts, where suppression continues for 4–5 hours. We also found via a preliminary ecological regression analysis of COVID-19 cases in the United States between January 2020 and March 2021 that exposure to elevated airborne salt on (Gulf and Pacific) US coastlines appears to suppress by approximately 25%–30% ([Formula: see text] < 0.05) COVID-19 incidence and deaths per capita relative to inland counties — accounting for ten potential confounding environmental, physiological, and behavioral variables including humidity. We conclude that the hydration of the upper airways by exposure to humidity, the wearing of masks, or the breathing of airborne salts that deposit in the upper airways diminish respiratory droplet generation and may reduce the risks of COVID-19 incidence and symptoms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T01:16:36Z |
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| id | doaj.art-c7b93c1f83f74d86802a97a09e31de26 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2529-7325 2529-7333 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T01:16:36Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | World Scientific Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Molecular Frontiers Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-c7b93c1f83f74d86802a97a09e31de262022-12-22T00:04:20ZengWorld Scientific PublishingMolecular Frontiers Journal2529-73252529-73332021-06-010501n02172910.1142/S2529732521400058Inhaled Water and Salt Suppress Respiratory Droplet Generation and COVID-19 Incidence and Death on US CoastlinesRachel D. Field0Nathan Moelis1Jonathan Salzman2Adriaan Bax3Dennis Ausiello4Sophie M. Woodward5Xiao Wu6Francesca Dominici7David A. Edwards8School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Columbia University, NY, NY, USASchool of Bioengineering, Northeastern University, Huntington Avenue, USASensory Cloud, 650 East Kendall St, Cambridge, MA, USANational Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USAMassachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USAHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USAHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USAHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USASensory Cloud, 650 East Kendall St, Cambridge, MA, USADry air alters salt and water balance in the upper airways and increases the risks of COVID-19 among other respiratory diseases. We explored whether such upper airway variations in salt and water balance might alter respiratory droplet generation and potentially contribute to observed impacts of airway hydration on respiratory disease. In a randomized 4-arm study of 21 healthy human subjects we found that the breathing of humid air, the wearing of cotton masks, and the delivery of (sodium, calcium, and magnesium chloride) salt droplets sized to deposit in the nose, trachea, and main bronchi similarly reduce the exhalation of respiratory droplets by approximately 50% ([Formula: see text] < 0.05) within 10 minutes following hydration. Respiratory droplet generation returns to relatively high baseline levels within 60–90 minutes on return to dry air in all cases other than on exposure to divalent (calcium and magnesium) salts, where suppression continues for 4–5 hours. We also found via a preliminary ecological regression analysis of COVID-19 cases in the United States between January 2020 and March 2021 that exposure to elevated airborne salt on (Gulf and Pacific) US coastlines appears to suppress by approximately 25%–30% ([Formula: see text] < 0.05) COVID-19 incidence and deaths per capita relative to inland counties — accounting for ten potential confounding environmental, physiological, and behavioral variables including humidity. We conclude that the hydration of the upper airways by exposure to humidity, the wearing of masks, or the breathing of airborne salts that deposit in the upper airways diminish respiratory droplet generation and may reduce the risks of COVID-19 incidence and symptoms.https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2529732521400058COVID-19AerosolsHumiditySaltCalciumEcological Regression |
| spellingShingle | Rachel D. Field Nathan Moelis Jonathan Salzman Adriaan Bax Dennis Ausiello Sophie M. Woodward Xiao Wu Francesca Dominici David A. Edwards Inhaled Water and Salt Suppress Respiratory Droplet Generation and COVID-19 Incidence and Death on US Coastlines Molecular Frontiers Journal COVID-19 Aerosols Humidity Salt Calcium Ecological Regression |
| title | Inhaled Water and Salt Suppress Respiratory Droplet Generation and COVID-19 Incidence and Death on US Coastlines |
| title_full | Inhaled Water and Salt Suppress Respiratory Droplet Generation and COVID-19 Incidence and Death on US Coastlines |
| title_fullStr | Inhaled Water and Salt Suppress Respiratory Droplet Generation and COVID-19 Incidence and Death on US Coastlines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inhaled Water and Salt Suppress Respiratory Droplet Generation and COVID-19 Incidence and Death on US Coastlines |
| title_short | Inhaled Water and Salt Suppress Respiratory Droplet Generation and COVID-19 Incidence and Death on US Coastlines |
| title_sort | inhaled water and salt suppress respiratory droplet generation and covid 19 incidence and death on us coastlines |
| topic | COVID-19 Aerosols Humidity Salt Calcium Ecological Regression |
| url | https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S2529732521400058 |
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