Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Short-term respiratory effects of polluted ambient air: a laboratory study of volunteers in a high-oxidant community

Journal Article · · Am. Rev. Respir. Dis.; (United States)
OSTI ID:5962224
; ; ; ; ; ;
To investigate short-term health effects of community air pollution directly, researchers developed a mobile laboratory allowing blind exposures of volunteers to polluted ambient air and to purified air at similar temperature and humidity. Subjects from the surrounding area were studied at Duarte, California, a Los Angeles suburb subject to frequent photochemical oxidant pollution. Each was exposed to a close approximation of outdoor ambient air for 2 h with intermittent light exercise. Lung function and symptoms were evaluated pre- and post-exposure. A control study took place several weeks later. Mean ambient air exposure concentrations were near 0.22 ppM for ozone and 200 micrograms/m3 for total suspended particulate. Ambient air exposures were associated with small significant losses in forced expiratory performance and total lung capacity. The responses of asthmatic and normal subjects were generally not significantly different, possibly because many normal subjects had a history of allergy and appeared atypically reactive to respiratory insults. In the normal subjects, a small significant increase in reported symptoms was seen with ambient air exposures compared with the control. In the asthmatics, the increase was not significant. Over-all, only slight effects attributable to exposure were found, even though a severely polluted area and a presumed high-risk population were chosen for study.
OSTI ID:
5962224
Journal Information:
Am. Rev. Respir. Dis.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. Rev. Respir. Dis.; (United States) Vol. 121:2; ISSN ARRDA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Acid fog: effects on respiratory function and symptoms in healthy and asthmatic volunteers
Journal Article · Tue Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1989 · Environ. Health Perspect.; (United States) · OSTI ID:6071536
Respiratory effects of mixed nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide in human volunteers under simulated ambient exposure conditions
Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1980 · Environ. Res.; (United States) · OSTI ID:6783416
Respiratory responses of young asthmatic volunteers in controlled exposures to sulfuric acid aerosol
Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · American Review of Respiratory Disease (New York); (USA) · OSTI ID:6788325

Related Subjects

552000 -- Public Health
560306* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Man-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
AIR POLLUTION
ANIMALS
BODY
CALIFORNIA
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DISEASES
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
LOS ANGELES
LUNGS
MAMMALS
MAN
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANS
OZONE
PARTICLES
POLLUTION
PRIMATES
PUBLIC HEALTH
RESPIRATION
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
SENSITIVITY
TOXICITY
USA
VERTEBRATES
WESTERN REGION