Evaluation of a bioaerosol sampler for indoor environmental surveillance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

Patrick Finn Horve; Leslie Dietz; Dale Northcutt; Jason Stenson; Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0257689

Evaluation of a bioaerosol sampler for indoor environmental surveillance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

PLoS One. 2021 Nov 15;16(11):e0257689. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257689. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Patrick Finn Horve¹, Leslie Dietz¹, Dale Northcutt^{1

2}, Jason Stenson^{1

2}, Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States of America.
² Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States of America.
³ Institute for Health and the Built Environment, University of Oregon, Portland, OR, United States of America.

Abstract

The worldwide spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has ubiquitously impacted many aspects of life. As vaccines continue to be manufactured and administered, limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2 will rely more heavily on the early identification of contagious individuals occupying reopened and increasingly populated indoor environments. In this study, we investigated the utility of an impaction-based bioaerosol sampling system with multiple nucleic acid collection media. Heat-inactivated SARS-CoV-2 was utilized to perform bench-scale, short-range aerosol, and room-scale aerosol experiments. Through bench-scale experiments, AerosolSense Capture Media (ACM) and nylon flocked swabs were identified as the highest utility media. In room-scale aerosol experiments, consistent detection of aerosol SARS-CoV-2 was achieved at an estimated aerosol concentration equal to or greater than 0.089 genome copies per liter of room air (gc/L) when air was sampled for eight hours or more at less than one air change per hour (ACH). Shorter sampling periods (75 minutes) yielded consistent detection at ~31.8 gc/L of room air and intermittent detection down to ~0.318 gc/L at (at both 1 and 6 ACH). These results support further exploration in real-world testing scenarios and suggest the utility of indoor aerosol surveillance as an effective risk mitigation strategy in occupied buildings.

Publication types

Evaluation Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aerosols / analysis*
COVID-19 / diagnosis*
COVID-19 / virology*
Environmental Monitoring*
Genome, Viral
Humans
RNA, Viral / genetics
SARS-CoV-2 / genetics
SARS-CoV-2 / physiology*

Substances

Aerosols
RNA, Viral

Grants and funding

Van Den Wymelenberg serves as a scientific advisor to EnviralTech, a company that conducts viral environmental surveillance, including in senior care facilities. EnviralTech did not play a role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. This research was funded by Thermo Fisher Scientific under award number 4133V1. The funder provided the university with support in the form of salaries for all authors, equipment, and reagents but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. However, per contractual obligations, the funder had the right to review the final manuscript for confidential information prior to submission. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.