Pulmonary function adaptation to ozone in subjects with chronic bronchitis.

Twenty smokers with chronic bronchitis were exposed to 0.41 ppm ozone for 3 hr-day for 5 consecutive days and reexposed 4 days later to determine (1) if they are sensitive to ozone, (2) if they adapt, and (3) if the adaptation lasts longer than 4 days. There were significant decrements in forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 3 sec ( FEV3 ) on the first day of the 5-day repeated exposures and also on reexposure 4 days following cessation of the sequential exposures. Symptoms experienced were mild and did not predominate on any exposure days. These results suggest that individuals with chronic bronchitis adapt rapidly to ozone and lose this adaptive phenomenon within 4 days. The small decreases seen in FVC and FEV3 (less than or equal to 3%) appear to impose no more than minimal limitations on their daily activities.