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

Acid air pollutant mixtures: Respiratory system responses and effects of exercise

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6864549

The study involved evaluation of rats exposed (at rest or while exercising) via a nose-only exposure system to various combinations of pollutants. The duration of exposure was four hours. The effects of O3 alone were compared to a combination of O3, HNO3 and H2SO4 and to a combination of O3 and HMSA. The comparisons were made at two concentration levels. Target concentrations for the lower levels were 0.20 ppm O3, 0.50 mg/cu m HNO3, 0.25 mg/cu m H2SO4 and 0.25 mg/cu m HMSA while higher concentration levels were twice these values. The toxic effects evaluation included: (1) Pulmonary function measures consisting of breathing frequency, tidal volume, minute ventilation, oxygen consumption, ventilation equivalent for oxygen and body temperature; (2) Histopathological analysis of nasal and lung epithelium which included: (a) microscopic analysis of nasal and lung tissue sections for qualitative analysis of injury and quantifying the injury as lesion areas; and (b) measurement of cell turnover by autoradiography as evidence of injury to the lining epithelium; (3) Biochemical analysis of pulmonary surfactant (PS) by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), ultraviolet spectrometry and gas chromatographic analysis for fatty acid composition of the PS.

Research Organization:
California Univ., Irvine, CA (USA). Dept. of Community and Environmental Medicine
OSTI ID:
6864549
Report Number(s):
PB-90-245077/XAB; CNN: ARB-A6-148-33
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English