Ozone Harms the Respiratory Health of U.S. Military Academy Cadets
Researchers from Columbia University and New York University sought to determine whether changes in lung function or respiratory symptoms would occur over the course of a summer among healthy young adults working outdoors in the presence of ozone.
The study followed 72 sophomore cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, during their summer training at Fort Benning, GA, Fort Leonard Wood, MO, Fort Sill, OK, and Fort Dix, NJ.
All the subjects on average experienced a decline in lung function over the course of the summer. There were also significant increases in reports of cough, chest tightness, and sore throat.
The decline in lung function was greatest in the group of military cadets who attended training in Fort Dix, New Jersey, where peak hourly ozone concentrations above 100 ppb occurred frequently.
“These results suggest a possible adverse respiratory-health impact of exposures to particulate matter and ozone in healthy young adults engaged in intensive outdoor training,” conclude the authors.
Kinney, P.L. and Lippmann, M. Respiratory Effects of Seasonal Exposures to Ozone and Particles. Archives of Environmental Health, Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 210-216, May/June 2000. The National Library of Medicine [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi] publishes an abstract online.
