An advanced personal nasal sampler (PNS) to assess occupational exposures to airborne viruses

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An advanced personal nasal sampler (PNS) to assess occupational exposures to airborne viruses This grant application responds to PAR-18-798: NIOSH Exploratory and/or Developmental Grant Program (R21). Exposure to airborne viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 and others in a workplace is a major concern worldwide, and new tools are needed to determine the actual personal exposures. Personal samplers typically require cumbersome external sampling components, such as pumps and tubing. We propose to develop a personal nasal sampler (PNS): a device that utilizes a person’s own breathing and an advanced filter medium to measure actual personal exposures to airborne infectious agents, including viruses and virus-laden droplets. We hypothesize that the proposed PNS will have a collection efficiency of >90% for a broad range of particle sizes (from viruses to virus-particle agglomerates) and low airflow resistance. It will not need any external components. PNS will consist of a novel hybrid filter installed in a medical-grade 3D-printed container. The PNS will be worn at the anterior tip of a person’s nostrils and act as a personal sampler of airborne particles. The hybrid filter will be designed by coating several candidate base substrates with nanofibers produced from permanently polarized substances, such as ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride [PVDF or P(VDF-TrFE)]. The PNS’s performance will be tested in a laboratory with polydisperse particles (e.g., sodium chloride) and inactivated human coronavirus OC43. We will also develop and optimize an effective protocol to elute viral particles captured by the PNS. PNS will also be tested in the hospital triage area, where it will be affixed to a mannequin’s nostrils; the amount of viral RNA captured by the PNS will be compared with that captured by a reference sampler. The PNS will be operated at sampling flow rates of 30-85 L/min. The field testing will be used to prepare us for future studies with volunteer workers to assess their exposure to infectious viral particles during work activities. The proposal’s goal responds to NIOSH’s COVID-19 Research Agenda calling to understand SARS-CoV-2 exposure in workplace settings. It also responds to NIOSH Strategic Plan’s “Immune, Infectious, and Dermal Disease Prevention” cross-sector and sectors of National Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing; Healthcare; Services; Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities. This proposal responds to the NIOSH r2P initiative by developing an innovative tool that will determine actual personal exposures to airborne viral agents, thus leading to worker health protection. The new personal sampling technology will eventually be transferred into the workplace. The output of the study will be a prototype PNS for determining personal exposures to respiratory agents in occupational environments. We expect that intermediate outcomes will include a patent, citations in the literature, and, finally, the adaptation of sampler in work environments. The end outcome is expected to be a better understanding of personal exposures to respiratory viruses, eventually leading to steps minimizing such exposures and improving worker health outcomes.