Skip to content
The methodOpen data
Back to the collection

Ambient carbon dioxide concentration correlates with SARS-CoV-2 aerostability and infection risk

Allen Haddrell, Henry Oswin, Mara Otero-Fernandez

Show all 11 authors

Joshua F. Robinson, Tristan Cogan, Robert Alexander, Jamie F. S. Mann, Darryl Hill, Adam Finn, Andrew D. Davidson, Jonathan P. Reid

2024 · Nature Communications

Biology & medicinePhysics
Read the paper
HN score
0
Mentions
4
Readers
4
Months
4
What’s in a score?

From the abstract

Abstract An improved understanding of the underlying physicochemical properties of respiratory aerosol that influence viral infectivity may open new avenues to mitigate the transmission of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. Previous studies have shown that an increase in the pH of respiratory aerosols following generation due to changes in the gas-particle partitioning of pH buffering bicarbonate ions and carbon dioxide is a significant factor in reducing SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. We show here that a significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 aerostability results from a moderate increase in the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (e.g. 800 ppm), an effect that is more marked than that observed for changes in relative humidity. We model the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission on the ambient concentration of CO 2 , concluding that even this moderate increase in CO 2 concentration results in a significant increase in overall risk. These observations confirm the critical importance of ventilation and maintaining low CO 2 concentrations in indoor environments for mitigating disease transmission. Moreover, the correlation of increased CO 2 concentration with viral aerostability need to be better understood when considering the consequences of increases in ambient CO 2 levels in our atmosphere.

Metadata: Crossref. Abstracts retain their original authors’ rights.

In the conversation

Original HN comments, with labels from simple text rules. A label describes the whole comment and may miss context or irony. Read the discussion to make up your own mind. About the labels

4 selected excerpts · 4 total mentions

jefftk
Neutral mention · rule
That's really interesting; I had thought it was just the high CO2 was a proxy for greater occupancy, but it does look like there is a physical effect. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47777-5
Original comment You Can Just Buy Far-UVC
Confiks
Neutral mention · rule
It's even more important if this finding [1] (press release [2]) turns out to be true, namely that the amount of carbon dioxide in the air is not just a proxy for air quality, but that having less of it actually actively destabilizes virus particles. Also, portable air cleaners seem to work pretty well [3]. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47777-5 [2] https://www.bristol.ac.uk/cabot/news/2024/virus.html [3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S295036202...
Original comment Prepare now for a potential H5N1 pandemic
rockinghigh
Neutral mention · rule
> Results showed increasing the CO2 concentration to just 800 ppm, a level identified as well ventilated, resulted in an increase in viral aerostability. After 40 minutes, when compared to clean air, around 10 times as much virus remained infectious when the air has a CO2 concentration similar to that of a crowded room (3,000 ppm). > Dr Haddrell said: “This relationship sheds important light on why super spreader events may occur under certain conditions. The high pH of exhaled droplets containing the SARS-CoV-2 virus is likely a major driver of the loss of infectiousness. CO2 behaves as an acid when it interacts with droplets. This causes the pH of the droplets to become…
Read the full comment
less alkaline, resulting in the virus within them being inactivated at a slower rate. https://www.bristol.ac.uk/cabot/news/2024/virus.html Ambient carbon dioxide concentration correlates with SARS-CoV-2 aerostability and infection risk https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47777-5
Original comment Study: Air purifier use at daycare centres cut kids' sick days by a third (2023)
s0rce
Neutral mention · rule
Title seems misleading. It seems that they have results that elevated levels of CO2 in the air increase survivability of viral aerosol particles and infectiousness. Since CO2 is so low (400-1000ppm) this is surprising. Haven't had time to look through the paper closely but seems to be pH related which makes sense. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47777-5
Original comment CO2 helps viruses stay alive longer in the air

Keep following the thread.

More in Biology & medicine

More from the same topics.