Litcius/Paper detail

Virus transmission from urinals

Ji‐Xiang Wang, Yun-Yun Li, Xiangdong Liu, Xiang Cao

2020Physics of Fluids64 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

A virus-laden particle movement from urinal flushing is simulated. Similar to the toilet-induced flushing, results indicate that the trajectory of the particles triggered by the urinal flushing manifests an external spread type. Even more alarmingly, the particle can reach 0.84 m (man's thigh) in 5.5 s when compared with the diffusion performance of the toilet-induced one (around 0.93 m in 35 s). A more violent climbing tendency is discovered in this Letter. Wearing masks should be made mandatory in public washrooms, and anti-diffusion improvements of facilities in public washrooms are urgently needed, especially in the current "SARS-CoV-2" crisis.

Topics & Concepts

FlushingPhysicsToiletTransmission (telecommunications)Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)ShowerDiffusionParticle (ecology)Current (fluid)MechanicsVirologyMedicineElectrical engineeringNozzleBiologyEcologyEndocrinologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)PathologyEngineeringThermodynamicsDiseaseInfection Control and VentilationInfection Control in Healthcare