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Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] singing and wind instruments indoors
Date: Friday, July 24, 2020 at 5:34:38 PM
Author: Monona Rossol <0000030664c37427-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU> 		Next by Date:
Subject: [DCHAS-L] New Article
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2020 06:19:22 -0400
Author: Richard Palluzi

From: Roger McClellan <roger.o.mcclellan**At_Symbol_Here**att.net>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] singing and wind instruments indoors
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2020 23:22:53 +0000
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: 719757591.4828968.1595632973021**At_Symbol_Here**mail.yahoo.com
In-Reply-To


To all:
  I think I am well -qualified  to address this issue based on more than 60 years of experience as an Inhalation Toxicologist, Aerosol Scientist and Risk Analyst and membership in National Academy of Medicine and election as an American Thoracic Society Fellow. 

The answer is an emphatic --- Do not do it! , irrespective of what you call it, a class, a course, a practice. My views are emphatic for indoor performances and only slightly less emphatic for out door gatherings.

A  real world example occurred in the Skagit Valley of Washington State in early March (? )when a choir practiced for several hours and many were infected as a result of one or two infected members.

Because of poor communications between scientists in different disciplines we spent months not acknowledging droplets are aerosols. The technical definition of an aerosol is -- a relatively stable suspension of solid particles and /or droplets in a gaseous media. 

Yes,  virus particles exhaled in droplets are aerosols and the aerosol particles follow the laws of physics as the particles are dispersed. The six foot rule is only a CRUDE index of exposure. Have your students calculate the virus load in a room of various dimensions with an assumed source and no ventilation, 1 or 5 or 10 air changes an hour. Do a similar exercise for a one hour staff meeting and have the Department Chair seated in different locations relative to the air inlet and air outlet. Ventilation is important.

I have had some up close experience on these issues when I learned a week after visiting my cardiologist that he was infected and in the ICU with Covid-19. Fortunately, I have had no symptoms. However, yesterday after battling red tape for 3 days I had a blood draw to  test for presence or absence of virus antibodies. It is useful to keep in mind that 40% of infected individuals are asymptomatic , a great opportunity for spread of virus by asymptomatic carriers.

My colleagues at the Lovelace Institute have Biological Safety Class 3 facilities so they can work with nasty viruses. A few years ago they purposefully infected ferrets with a new influenza virus and the moved air through that cage to an adjacent cage with naive ferrets. No surprise, those down wind ferrets came down with influenza. Yes, ferrets and people respond in a similar fashion to these novel viruses.

STAY AWAY FROM INFECTED INDIVIDUALS AND WEAR A MASK.

 Roger McClellan

On Friday, July 24, 2020, 01:59:47 PM MDT, Jeffrey Lewin <jclewin**At_Symbol_Here**mtu.edu> wrote:


I saw this earlier this week and found it interesting.

Jeff

s it safe to strike up the band in a time of coronavirus?


"Science's COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.

As U.S. schools and colleges debate how to reopen amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, band directors and musicians are wondering when-or whether-music can be played safely. A new study finds that although musical instruments do generate airborne particles that could carry SARS-CoV-2, the risks for performers and audience may be manageable.

There is almost no research on whether musical instruments produce the airborne particles-or aerosols-that can transmit the novel coronavirus. So it's impossible to know whether keeping 2 meters away is enough to stay safe from a trumpet at full blast..."

[More in the link above]

On Fri, Jul 24, 2020 at 3:33 PM Kristi Ohr <kohr**At_Symbol_Here**umass.edu> wrote:

Hi All,

 

I have a non-chemical safety question for you.  This is a talkative bunch with many opinions on many subjects, so I figured it's okay to be off topic.  I am particularly interested in your opinion if you are at an institution in MA.  Is your institution permitting your music/theater folks to do indoor singing or playing of wind instruments for the Fall?  Curious of your or your colleagues opinions on this.  Mine is that this is currently not permitted under theatre and performance sector specific MA reopening guidelines (even though those technically apply to only performances and not classes).  I think it's splitting hairs to say it's different if they are in front of an audience or not..  What are your thoughts?

 

Thanks,


Kristi

 

 

Kristi Ohr, Ph.D.  (pronouns: she/her)
Chemical Safety Services Manager

Environmental Health and Safety
UMass Amherst
40 Campus Center Way
Draper Hall
Amherst, MA 01003
Office: 413-545-5117

Cell: 413-800-4408

kohr**At_Symbol_Here**ehs.umass.edu

www.ehs.umass.edu

 

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--
Jeff Lewin
Director of Chemical Laboratory Operations
Research Integrity Office
Laboratory Operations
205 Lakeshore Center 
Michigan Technological University

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