Comparison of Pulmonary Responses of Asthmatic and Nonasthmatic Subjects Performing Light Exercise While Exposed to a Low Level of Ozone

Abstract

To determine if asthmatic subjects (ASTH, n = 17) experience greater O3 induced pulmonary decrements than nonasthmatic subjects (NONA, n = 13), both groups were exposed for 7.6 h to both clean air and 0.16 ppm 03. Exposures consisted of seven 50-min periods of light exercise (VE = 14.2 and 15.3 l/min/m2 for ASTH and NONA, respectively), each followed by 10 min rest. A 35-min lunch period followed the third exercise. Following 03 exposure, decrements in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and FEV1 divided by forced vital capacity (FVC), corrected for air exposure, for ASTH