Dependence on relative humidity in the formation of reactive oxygen species in water droplets

Water microdroplets (7 to 11 µm average diameter, depending on flow rate) are sprayed in a closed chamber at ambient temperature, whose relative humidity (RH) is controlled. The resulting concentration of ROS (reactive oxygen species) formed in the microdroplets, measured by the amount of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), is determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and by spectrofluorimetric assays after the droplets are collected. The results are found to agree closely with one another. In addition, hydrated hydroxyl radical cations (•OH-H₃O⁺) are recorded from the droplets using mass spectrometry and superoxide radical anions (•O₂^-) and hydroxyl radicals (•OH) by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. As the RH varies from 15 to 95%, the concentration of H₂O₂ shows a marked rise by a factor of about 3.5 in going from 15 to 50%, then levels off. By replacing the H₂O of the sprayed water with deuterium oxide (D₂O) but keeping the gas surrounding droplets with H₂O, mass spectrometric analysis of the hydrated hydroxyl radical cations demonstrates that the water in the air plays a dominant role in producing H₂O₂ and other ROS, which accounts for the variation with RH. As RH increases, the droplet evaporation rate decreases. These two facts help us understand why viruses in droplets both survive better at low RH values, as found in indoor air in the wintertime, and are disinfected more effectively at higher RH values, as found in indoor air in the summertime, thus explaining the recognized seasonality of airborne viral infections.