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Is farting an aerosol-generating procedure?
A tweetorial…
A tweetorial…
When I was researching this article on aerosol-generating procedures the question just popped into my mind. https://dontforgetthebubbles.com/aerosol-generating-procedures/
And it seems like a lot of you wanted to know the answer too.
As someone who has done some odd things in the name of science, I felt uniquely qualified to get to the bottom of it if @xandvt and @DoctorChrisVT weren't going to do it.
As someone who has done some odd things in the name of science, I felt uniquely qualified to get to the bottom of it if @xandvt and @DoctorChrisVT weren't going to do it.
Farts, guffs, parps, a gentleman’s woof - we all do them.
Even the Queen!
Even the Queen!
So, can the bottom-based emissions of someone with coronavirus be silent and deadly?
That is the question I set out to answer. As you may imagine there is not a great deal of research in this area.
That is the question I set out to answer. As you may imagine there is not a great deal of research in this area.
If you look way, way back, to 569 BCE, you might discover that, according to Herodotus, a poorly timed fart from Amasis, messenger to King Apries of Egypt, started a revolution that led to the death of 10,000 men. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/71138/fart-started-revolution
Flash forward almost 2000 years to one of the first great pandemics - the bubonic plague - responsible for the death of up to 200 million people.
It was thought that sniffing one's own farts might save you from the toxic miasma. Breathing in a toxic humor as dangerous as the Black Death itself was thought to be a cure.
And so farts in a jar were born.
And so farts in a jar were born.
They have also been used as a weapon as depicted in the He-Gassen scrolls of the Edo period. These were the epic 'fart battles'
You can see them in all their glory here at the museum website
https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/chi04/chi04_01029/index.html
You can see them in all their glory here at the museum website
https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/chi04/chi04_01029/index.html
We produce about a 1 litre of gas a day (plus or minus 500mls) and release it in 15-20 discrete episodes
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1378885/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1378885/
Whilst it might seem to come unbidden to most, the art of the flatulist, first ascribed to Le Pétomane, involves contraction of the abdominal muscles and a forced indrawing of air through the rectum.
Here he is in 1900, as filmed by Edison
Here he is in 1900, as filmed by Edison
Here, a modern practitioner of the (f)art, Mr. Methane ( @mrmethane), demonstrates just exactly why it is called wind. https://gfycat.com/tartabsoluteblackwidowspider
Though it is possible that it is just a load of hot air as these thermal imaging cameras suggest
So farts CAN have the power to spray talc long distances. And, in terms of size, a particle of talcum powder is 5 times bigger than a 5-micron aerosol droplet.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29261577
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29261577
What has all this farting talk got to do with the coronavirus?
Well, SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in faeces and has been detected in an asymptomatic individual up to 17 days post-exposure.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0301-f1
Well, SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in faeces and has been detected in an asymptomatic individual up to 17 days post-exposure.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0301-f1
This asymptomatic carriage has been replicated in a number of studies. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langas/article/PIIS2468-1253(20)30083-2/fulltext
So what is the answer? As with a lot of science, we just don’t know.
In fact, the only paper I could find was this one by the illustrious @DoctorKarl
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1121900/
In fact, the only paper I could find was this one by the illustrious @DoctorKarl
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1121900/
Dr. K and Luke Tennant volunteered to fart on a petri dish.
There was no growth when the fart was filtered by trousers but with no barrier between agar and arse gut flora proliferated.
There was no growth when the fart was filtered by trousers but with no barrier between agar and arse gut flora proliferated.
Perhaps SARS-CoV-2 can be spread thought the power of parping - we need more evidence. So remember to wear appropriate PPE at all times and stay safe!
~The End
~The End
