Indoor Sport Activities: Aerosol emission during exercise

26 Juli 2021

Prof. Christian Kähler, Professor für Strömungsmechanik und Aerodynamik, hat bei der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) das Projekt "Aerosol emission during exercise in relation to lung function, age and body weight" erfolgreich eingeworben.

Laufzeit: 01.10.2021 bis 30.09.2022

Förderer: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft e. V.  – Fokus-Förderung COVID-19 "Aerosolpartikel und ihre Ausbreitung"

The effect of exercise intensity on SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in fitness centres, sports halls, indoor swimming pools and other types of indoor sport is largly unknown. To make sport activities indoor safe we aim to answer two research questions:

1) How does exercise intensity affect the number/concentration of aerosol emission and what is the size distribution of the emitted aerosol particles?

2) Are lung function (as determined by lung function testing and impulse oscillometry), age, BMI associated with aerosol production at rest and during exercise?

DFG form COVID-19 Focus-Funding page 3 of 8

The planned experiments will generate much needed information on the effect of exercise on aerosol emission. This is essential for evidence-informed hygiene concepts e.g. for fitness centres or other types of indoor sport and for the modelling infection risk.

^{Bild: © gettyimages / ferrantraite}