Exposure of humans to ambient levels of ozone for 6. 6 hours causes cellular and biochemical changes in the lung

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5458604

Devlin, R B; McDonnell, W F; Mann, R; Becker, S; House, D E

An acute (2h) exposure of humans to 0.4 ppm ozone initiates biochemical changes in the lung resulting in the production of components which mediate inflammation and acute lung damage as well as components which have the potential to lead to long term effects such as fibrosis. However, many people are exposed to lower levels of ozone than this, but for periods of several hours. Therefore, it is important to determine if a prolonged exposure to low levels of ozone is also capable of causing cellular and biochemical changes in the lung. Non-smoking males were randomly exposed to filtered air and either 0.10 ppm ozone or 0.08 ppm ozone for 6.6 h with moderate exercise (40 1/min). Bronchalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed 18 h after each exposure, and cells and fluid analyzed. The BAL fluid of volunteers exposed to 0.10 ppm ozone had significant increases in neutrophils (PMNs), protein, PGE2, fibronectin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) compared with BAL fluid from the same volunteers exposed to filtered air. The study concludes that exposure of humans to low levels of ozone is sufficient to initiate an inflammatory reaction in the lung.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States). Health Effects Research Lab.
• OSTI ID: 5458604
• Report Number(s): PB-91-207126/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACUTE EXPOSURE
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
ENZYMES
HEMIACETAL DEHYDROGENASES
INFLAMMATION
LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE
LAVAGE
LEUKOCYTES
LUNGS
MAMMALS
MAN
MATERIALS
NEUTROPHILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
OXIDOREDUCTASES
OZONE
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
PHAGOCYTOSIS
PRIMATES
PROTEINS
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
SENSITIVITY
SYMPTOMS
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES