Acute and chronic respiratory effects of occupational exposure to ammonia

In a soda ash plant, 58 workers exposed to mean airborne ammonia levels of 9.2 +/- 1.4 ppm were compared with 31 control workers with a mean exposure of 0.3 +/- 0.1 ppm. There were no differences between the groups in the reporting of respiratory or cutaneous symptoms, sense of smell, baseline lung function, or change in lung function over a work shift at the beginning and end of a workweek. No relationships between level or length of ammonia exposure and lung function results were demonstrated.