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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Secondhand exposure to fugitive aerosols may cause airway diseases in health providers. We hypothesized that redesigning aerosol masks to be closed-featured would reduce the fugitive aerosol concentrations during nebulization. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of a mask designed for a jet nebulizer on the concentration of fugitive aerosols and delivered doses.
METHODS: An adult intubation manikin was attached to a lung simulator to mimic normal and distressed adult breathing patterns. The jet nebulizer delivered salbutamol as an aerosol tracer. The nebulizer was attached to 3 aerosol face masks: an aerosol mask, a modified non–rebreathing mask (NRM, with no vent holes), and an AerosoLess mask. An aerosol particle sizer measured aerosol concentrations at parallel distances of 0.8 m and 2.2 m and a frontal distance of 1.8 m from the manikin. The drug dose delivered distal to the manikin's airway was collected, eluted, and analyzed using a spectrophotometer at a 276 nm wavelength.
RESULTS: With a normal breathing pattern, the trends of aerosol concentrations were higher with an NRM followed by an aerosol mask and AerosoLess mask (P < .001) at 0.8 m; however, the concentrations were higher with an aerosol mask followed by NRM and AerosoLess mask at 1.8 m (P < .001) and 2.2 m (P < .001). With a distressed breathing pattern, the aerosol concentrations were higher with an aerosol mask followed by an NRM and AerosoLess mask at 0.8 m, 1.8 m (P < .001), and 2.2 m (P = .005). The delivered drug dose was significantly higher with AerosoLess mask with a normal breathing pattern and with an aerosol mask with a distressed breathing pattern.
CONCLUSIONS: Mask design influences fugitive aerosol concentrations in the environment, and a filtered mask reduces the concentration of aerosols at 3 different distances and with 2 breathing patterns.
Footnotes
- Correspondence: Hui-Ling Lin PhD RRT RN FAARC, Department of Respiratory Therapy, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Haw 1st, Kwei-Shan, Taoyuan, Taiwan. E-mail: huilingrrt{at}gmail.com
AerosoLess Medical provided the masks used in this study.
Supplementary material related to this paper is available at http://www.rcjournal.com.
Dr Lin discloses relationships with Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China, and Chang Gung Memorial Foundation. Mr. Rowley discloses relationships with STIMIT and Sedana Medical. The remaining authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.
This research was partially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China (grant number MOST-109-2314-B-182-067).
Dr Lin presented the abstract of this paper at the AARC Congress 2022, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 9–12, 2022.
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