Synthetic smoke with acrolein but not HCl produces pulmonary edema.

The chemical toxins in smoke and not the heat are responsible for the pulmonary edema of smoke inhalation. We developed a synthetic smoke composed of carbon particles (mean diameter of 4.3 microns) to which toxins known to be in smoke, such as HCl or acrolein, could be added one at a time. We delivered synthetic smoke to dogs for 10 min and monitored extravascular lung water (EVLW) accumulation thereafter with a double-indicator thermodilution technique. Final EVLW correlated highly with gravimetric values (r = 0.93, P less than 0.01). HCl in concentrations of 0.1-6 N when added to heated carbon (120 degrees C) and cooled to 39 degrees C produced airway damage but no pulmonary edema. Acrolein, in contrast, produced airway damage but also pulmonary edema, whereas capillary wedge pressures remained stable. Low-dose acrolein smoke (less than 200 ppm) produced edema in two of five animals with a 2- to 4-h delay. Intermediate-dose acrolein smoke (200-300 ppm) always produced edema at an average of 147 +/- 57 min after smoke, whereas high-dose acrolein (greater than 300 ppm) produced edema at 65 +/- 16 min after smoke. Thus acrolein but not HCl, when presented as a synthetic smoke, produced a delayed-onset, noncardiogenic, and peribronchiolar edema in a roughly dose-dependent fashion.