Respiratory response of humans exposed to low levels of ozone for 6.6 hours

Recent evidence suggests that prolonged exposures of exercising men to 0.08 ppm ozone (O3) result in significant decrements in lung function, induction of respiratory symptoms, and increases in nonspecific airway reactivity. The purpose of this study was to confirm or refute these findings by exposing 38 healthy young men to 0.08 ppm O3 for 6.6 h. During exposure, subjects performed exercise for a total of 5 h, which required a minute ventilation of 40 l/min. Significant O3-induced decrements were observed for forced vital capacity (FVC, -0.25 l), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1.0, -0.35 l), and mean expiratory flow rate between 25% and 75% of FVC (FEF25-75, -0.57 l/s), and significant increases were observed in airway reactivity (35%), specific airway resistance (0.77 cm H2O/s), and respiratory symptoms. These results essentially confirm previous findings. A large range in individual responses was noted (e.g., percentage change in FEV1.0; 4% increase to 38% decrease). Responses also appeared to be nonlinear in time under these experimental conditions.