Measurements of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Concentrations in Indoor and Outdoor Air in Italy: Implications for the Role of Airborne Transmission †
by
, , , , ,
Daniela Chirizzi
1, 
Marianna Conte
2
,
Matteo Feltracco
3,4,
Sara Trabucco
5,
Adelaide Dinoi
2,
Elena Gregoris
3,4,
Elena Barbaro
3,4,
Gianfranco La Bella
1,
Giuseppina Ciccarese
1,
Franco Belosi
5,
Giovanna La Salandra
1,
Andrea Gambaro
4 and
Daniele Contini
2,*
1
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, 71121 Foggia, Italy
2
Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate—ISAC-CNR, 73100 Lecce, Italy
3
Institute of Polar Sciences—ISP-CNR, 30172 Venice, Italy
4
Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca’ Foscari, 30172 Venice, Italy
5
Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate—ISAC-CNR, 40129 Bologna, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the 4th International Electronic Conference on Atmospheric Sciences, 16–31 July 2021; Available online: https://ecas2021.sciforum.net/
Environ. Sci. Proc. 2021, 8(1), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/ecas2021-10330
Published: 22 June 2021
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 4th International Electronic Conference on Atmospheric Sciences)
Abstract
:The work deals with identification/quantification of genetic material (RNA) of SARS-CoV-2 in air in different locations in Italy. This is an extremely important aspect to investigate the risks of airborne transmission and the role of this mechanism of transmission on the development of pandemic.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been scientific questions regarding the role of the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and its influence on the spread of COVID-19 [1,2,3,4]. One of the key parameters to ascertain the risks of airborne transmission is the concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material (RNA) in the air in different environments. This work investigates this aspect in both outdoor and indoor environments in different towns of Italy during the first and the second wave of the pandemic.
Outdoor samples were collected using both PM10 low-volume (2.3 m3/h) samplers for 48 h in parallel in Venice (Veneto region, north-east of Italy) and Lecce (Puglia region, south-east of Italy) during the first wave of the pandemic. In addition, two samples for each site were collected using MOUDI multistage impactors (1.8 m3/h for six days of sampling) that were able to separate 12 size ranges of particles.
During the second wave of the pandemic in Italy (November–December 2020), air samples were collected in the following different community indoor environments: one train station and two food markets in the metropolitan city of Venice (Veneto Region); one canteen in Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region, central Italy); one shopping centre, one hair salon, and one pharmacy in Lecce (Puglia region).
All the collected samples were analysed to individuate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA traces using the following two independent approaches: real-time RT-PCR and ddPCR [5]. The recovery tests conducted using the Mengo virus strain MC0 indicate a recovery of about 50%.
Modelling of the expected average concentrations in the different environments was also conducted using an influx of customers’ data and local epidemiological information to compare with the measurements. The results show a negligible risk for airborne transmission in residential outdoor zones, excluding crowed areas. In the community indoor environments investigated, indoor ventilation seems to play an important role in reducing the concentrations of virus-laden particles as well as the use of facemasks.
Supplementary Materials
The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ecas2021-10330/s1.
Data Availability Statement
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
References
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MDPI and ACS Style
Chirizzi, D.; Conte, M.; Feltracco, M.; Trabucco, S.; Dinoi, A.; Gregoris, E.; Barbaro, E.; La Bella, G.; Ciccarese, G.; Belosi, F.; et al. Measurements of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Concentrations in Indoor and Outdoor Air in Italy: Implications for the Role of Airborne Transmission. Environ. Sci. Proc. 2021, 8, 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecas2021-10330
AMA Style
Chirizzi D, Conte M, Feltracco M, Trabucco S, Dinoi A, Gregoris E, Barbaro E, La Bella G, Ciccarese G, Belosi F, et al. Measurements of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Concentrations in Indoor and Outdoor Air in Italy: Implications for the Role of Airborne Transmission. Environmental Sciences Proceedings. 2021; 8(1):29. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecas2021-10330
Chicago/Turabian StyleChirizzi, Daniela, Marianna Conte, Matteo Feltracco, Sara Trabucco, Adelaide Dinoi, Elena Gregoris, Elena Barbaro, Gianfranco La Bella, Giuseppina Ciccarese, Franco Belosi, and et al. 2021. "Measurements of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Concentrations in Indoor and Outdoor Air in Italy: Implications for the Role of Airborne Transmission" Environmental Sciences Proceedings 8, no. 1: 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecas2021-10330
