[Health effects of ozone as component of summer smog]

During the sunny summers of 1989 and 1990 in Germany the outdoor ozone levels repeatedly exceeded the value of the air quality guidelines proposed by the World Health Organization. Both in multiple sites within industrial polluted and in supposedly clean outside areas the ozone concentrations exceeded the value of 180 micrograms/m3. The following paper is intended to contribute to an understanding of the health effects of ozone. It compiles data and views on the formation and analysis of ozone, on its distribution as ambient ground level pollutant, on respiratory and common symptoms in man and on the toxicokinetics, responses and pathogenesis in experimental animals. Studies on healthy exercising adult volunteers exposed to 240 micrograms/m3 ozone in purified lab air or in ambient air revealed a significant influence on connections between forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume, flow rate and peak expiratory flow rate and the pollutant. Exposure to lower ozone levels induced the same effects, but they were of smaller magnitude. Children aged 8-15 years exercising under field conditions showed decrements in lung function even at ozone levels well below 200 micrograms/m3. Restitution of lung function needs periods of several days, although the induction of effects is a matter of hours. The relevance of the transient pulmonary responses is widely unclear. Among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma, the functional responsiveness to ozone is not greater than among healthy subjects. Interindividual differences in responsiveness occur but are not predictable. Information on chronic effects is rather limited.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)