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Healthy volunteers exposed to wood stove particles demonstrate inflammatory changes
Citation:
GHIO, A. J., J. M. SOUKUP, S. L. Stone, W. L. Zheng, AND I. JASPERS. Healthy volunteers exposed to wood stove particles demonstrate inflammatory changes. Presented at American Thoracic Society (ATS) Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, May 14 - 19, 2010.
Impact/Purpose:
This would present findings on a wood stove emissions study.
Description:
Introduction. Human exposure to particles associated with wood burning is of great consequence in both indoor air quality and air pollution and has been listed by the World Health Organization as one of the world's ten greatest health concerns. This investigation tested the postulate that healthy volunteers exposed to wood stove emissions would demonstrate evidence of lung inflammation. Methods. Ten volunteers were exposed to filtered air and, 3 weeks or more later, wood stove particles. Each exposure included four rotations of exercise (15 minutes on a cycle ergometer) followed by rest (15 minutes) for a total exposure time of 2 hours. Exercise intensity was adjusted so that subjects breathed at a ventilatory rate of 25 L/m2/minute. Blood pressure, heart rate, electrocardiogram, and Sp02 were monitored during the exposure. Wood smoke was generated in a Quadra-Fire wood stove by an oak log smoldering on an electric heating element, and delivered to the chamber (measuring 6 ft x 6 ft x 8 ft). Endpoints included symptoms, pulmonary function tests (spirometry and diffusing capacity), measures of heart rate variability, blood indices, and measures in lavage obtained through bronchoscopy. Results. Particle mass by TEOM for the ten filtered air and wood stove particle exposures was 0 ± 0 and 500 ± 41 ug/rrr' respectively. N02, NO, and S02 concentrations approached zero. CO exposures during wood stove exposures were 2.67 ± 0.72 ppm. There were no reported symptoms. Pulmonary function tests showed no changes. Approximately 24 hours after exposure, the bronchial lavage revealed percent neutrophils values of 4.3 ± 2.1 and 16.2 ± 3.1 for filtered air and wood stove particles respectively. The bronchoalveolar lavage showed 1.3 ± 0.9 and 8.7 ± 2.7% neutrophils after filtered air and wood stove emissions respectively. Conclusions. We conclude that exposure of healthy volunteers to wood stove emissions is associated with lung inflammation. THIS ABSTRACT OF A PROPOSED PRESENTATION DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT EPA POLICY.