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Improved pulmonary function in working divers breathing nitrox at shallow depths.

Daniel T Fitzpatrick1, Johnny Conkin

  • 1Sonny Carter Training Facility, Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058-3696, USA. daniel.t.fitzpatrick1@jsc.nasa.gov

Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine
|July 17, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Nitrox diving at shallow depths did not harm lung function in working divers. Divers showed improved forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) over three years, likely due to training effects.

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Area of Science:

  • Diving Medicine
  • Pulmonary Physiology
  • Occupational Health

Background:

  • Limited data exists on the long-term pulmonary effects of nitrox use in divers at shallow depths.
  • This study investigates pulmonary function changes in divers using enriched air nitrox (46% O2) at depths <12m.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the long-term pulmonary effects of regular nitrox diving in a cohort of working divers.
  • To assess changes in lung function parameters over a three-year period.

Main Methods:

  • 43 working divers at NASA-JSC's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) provided diving and smoking history.
  • Cumulative dive hours were tracked via the NBL database.
  • Pulmonary function tests (FVC, FEV1, PEF, FEF25-75%) were measured at pre-dive, 1-year, and 3-year intervals.
Keywords:
Non-programmatic

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Main Results:

  • Divers initially presented with higher-than-predicted forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1).
  • After 3 years, significant increases in FVC (6.3%) and FEV1 (5.5%) were observed (p < 0.01).
  • No significant changes were noted in peak expiratory flow (PEF) or other forced expiratory flow rates; cumulative dive hours correlated with FVC and FEV1 changes.

Conclusions:

  • NBL divers represent a unique group with inherently larger lung volumes.
  • Three years of regular shallow-depth nitrox diving did not impair pulmonary function.
  • Observed improvements in FVC and FEV1 are attributed primarily to a training effect rather than adverse effects of nitrox.