Can airborne pollen help spread SARS-CoV-2?
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COVID-19
the University of Nicosia
Talib Dbouk
Defence and Security Research Institute
Physics of Fluids
Medical News Today
the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
MNT
People
Dimitris Drikakis
Susanne Dunker
Dbouk
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COVID-19
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Cyprus
the United States
Leipzig
Germany
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Summary
This would have the effect of increasing potential contacts between pollen grains and the tiny droplets of saliva generated when people talk, cough, and so on.Assuming that the virus can hitch a ride on pollen grains, the results suggest that the pollen could carry the virus from one person to others in the crowd.Talib Dbouk, Ph.D., and Dimitris Drikakis, Ph.D., from the university’s Defence and Security Research Institute conducted the study, which has been published in the journal Physics of Fluids.The researchers point out that droplets of saliva are relatively heavy and evaporate rapidly, whereas pollen grains contain little water, are lighter, and can travel tens of kilometers.“People should avoid crowd gatherings close to some types of plants or trees known to be very active in pollen grains release during a pollination season,” Prof.
As said here by James Kingsland