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Professors Shelly Miller and Nina Vance, along with Miller's daughter, Renee Leiden, produced a video explaining how the transmission of respiratory infections can occur. They reveal that there are three ways someone susceptible to infection can contract a virus: contact transmission, spray of large particles and airborne transmission. Contact transmission occurs when someone susceptible to infection touches a surface that has been contaminated by a virus and then touches their eyes, mouth or nose. They said COVID-19 is not highly likely to spread in this way. A person can also become infected when a spray of large particles, or droplets, fly out of an infected person's mouth or nose and land on the eyes, nose or mouth of someone who is susceptible to infection. Airborne transmission occurs when the virus is suspended in particles in the air. Animal studies, superspreading events and air sampling have shown that COVID-19 is transmitted in this way. 

Watch the video below to learn more about the transmission of respiratory infections and how to mitigate these risks. 

[video:https://youtu.be/AGQYlrXzVJQ]

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Marina Vance

HOMEChem field experiment seeks to understand how daily activities impact the home environment

In the United States, as well as in most of the developed world, people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors. In homes, workplaces, schools and every indoor environment, we are impacted by the air we breathe and the surfaces we touch, as well as by the constantly changing influence of the indoor environment around us. A new, unique study will analyze these chemical interactions with the tools used for studying outdoor air pollution with the hope of learning what role they may play in human health.

“HOMEChem is a deep, multifaceted field study into how indoor chemical compounds may interact and transform throughout a normal day of activities like cooking, cleaning and even during family gatherings” says Marina Vance, PhD, principal investigator, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Engineering Program, �鶹ӰԺ. “We expect to answer important scientific questions on the chemistry of indoor environments in a real-world experimental setting.”

The month-long project, called HOMEChem (House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry), incorporates measurements from more than 15 research groups from 13 universities. Experiments are taking place inside the University of Texas’ one-of-a-kind UTest House facility.

“The UTest House is a premanufactured home that has been retrofitted for experimentation,” says Atila Novoselac, PhD, professor, Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin. “The house is exceptionally flexible but it still took two months to adjust, reconfigure, and build the logistical support for the HOMEChem experiments.”

“This is a first-of-its-kind, multidisciplinary field experiment,” says Paula Olsiewski, PhD, Chemistry of the Indoor Environments program director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “It’s exciting to see engineers, chemists and microbiologists working together on the frontier of scientific inquiry.”

The HOMEChem experiment is centered around three science questions:

• What are the sources of chemical oxidants in the indoor environment, and how are they impacted by changes in light conditions and human activities? Examples of chemical oxidants are hydroxyl radicals (OH), nitrate radicals (NO3-), and ozone (O3), which are very reactive.
• What are the main sources of organic compounds in the indoor environment? How does the physical and chemical transformation of organic compounds from gaseous state into particulate phase (also known as "secondary organic aerosol") and other chemical compounds present in minute amounts (also known as trace gas species) change in response to human activities
• What are the sources of indoor reactive nitrogen species, and to what extent is their presence indoors influenced by outdoor pollution?

HOMEChem researchers are from the �鶹ӰԺ; Colorado State University; the University of Texas at Austin; Drexel University; Syracuse University; Indiana University Bloomington; the University of Toronto; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, San Diego; the University of Massachusetts; Harvard University; Washington University in St. Louis Engineering; and The College of William & Mary.

Instruments being used during the experiment have been loaned by Handix Scientific, Airmodus, Airboxlab, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

“The HOMEChem teams have set up trailers around the UTest House equipped with some of the most sophisticated instruments available, specifically designed to detect oxidants, the vast diversity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and particulate matter,” says Delphine Farmer, PhD, principal investigator, associate professor, Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University. “Each measurement will provide one piece of the puzzle that describes the chemistry of indoor environments; together, these clues will begin to reveal a picture that can help us better understand this complex chemistry.”

The HOMEChem field study is funded by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in its Chemistry of Indoor Environments program. To follow the field experiment in real time, follow and on Twitter.

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Congratulations to mechanical engineering assistant professor Marina Vance for being honored with an Outstanding Young Alumni by her alma mater, Virginia Tech.

The VA Tech Academy of Distinguished Alumni recognizes alumni of the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for their accomplishments and commitment to the profession of engineering and other careers.

Vance's research focuses on air quality, particularly aerosols.

Vance isn't the only CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty member to be honored by VA Tech. Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering assistant professor Sherri Cook also received the award. In addition to their home departments, both Vance and Cook are rostered in the CU �鶹ӰԺ Environmental Engineering Program.

Vance joined the CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty in 2016.

Read More about the recognition.

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