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DOES CHRONIC OZONE EXPOSURE LEAD TO LUNG DISEASE?
Citation:
Costa, D., G. Hatch, AND J. Crapo. DOES CHRONIC OZONE EXPOSURE LEAD TO LUNG DISEASE? U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/D-90/168.
Description:
The potential role of ozone in the induction of chronic lung diseases remains unclear. sing an ambient profile adopted from aerometric data from the Southwest Air Basin, rats were exposed to O3 for up to 18 months before assessments of pulmonary structure, function and biochemistry. mall, but significant alterations lung function were observed at 52 and 78 weeks of exposure which were consistent with an overall "restrictive" functional lesion; these effects subsided during the post-exposure in clean air. vidence of augmented lung permeability to plasma proteins and shifts in the antioxidant balance of lung tissues free cells and lavage fluids were consistent with chronic oxidant stress. M-morphometry revealed alterations in proximal bronchoalveolar epithelia and interalveolar interstitium which largely resolved during clean air post-exposure. owever, fibrotic activity within the epithelial basement membrane and interstitium persisted. hese collective data suggest that chronic exposure to O3 in an ambient exposure pattern induces alterations of lung infrastructure at presumptive O3 deposition sites resulting in functional and biochemical consequences.