Have you been in a car with someone outside your social circle and worried about the possibility of COVID transmission? A new study shows that cranking the vehicle’s ventilation system — heat or air conditioning — doesn’t work nearly as well as opening the windows.
Researchers say the more windows you can open, the better. “The best scenario we found was having all four windows open, but even having one or two open was far better than having them all closed,” said Asimanshu Das, a graduate student in Brown’s School of Engineering and co-lead author of the research.
However, opening all the windows may not be practical in the winter in some parts of the country, so what’s the best option? Researchers found that opening one or two windows opposite to the occupants, and not the windows next to them, is more successful at reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
“When the windows opposite the occupants are open, you get a flow that enters the car behind the driver, sweeps across the cabin behind the passenger and then goes out the passenger-side front window,” said Kenny Breuer, a professor of engineering at Brown and a senior author of the research. “That pattern helps to reduce cross-contamination between the driver and passenger"
Source: ZME Science December 7, 2020