COVID-19 spread more by men, loud talkers: study

Men and people who speak at louder volumes more easily spread COVID-19, according to researchers at Colorado State University (CSU).

In a November study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, a multidisciplinary team at the school examined respiratory aerosol emissions from a panel of healthy individuals of varying age and gender while talking and singing in a controlled laboratory setting.

The group measured particle number concentrations between 0.25 and 33 micrometers from 63 participants ages 12-61 years old, and voice volume and exhaled CO2 (carbon dioxide) levels were monitored.

Measurements were taken while subjects were both masked and unmasked inside the lab of professor and study co-author John Volckens.

Researchers concluded that singing produced 77% more aerosol than talking, adults produced 62% more aerosol than minors and males produced 34% more aerosol than females. 

However, after accounting for…