Adaptation to short-term respiratory effects of ozone in men exposed repeatedly.

To investigate whether adaptation which modifies some acute effects of ozone (O3) exposure can develop in humans, six male volunteers with respiratory hyperreactivity were exposed in a controlled environment chamber to 0.5 ppm O3 2h/day for 4 successive days under conditions stimulating ambient pollution exposures. One subject showed little measurable response, while five showed function decrement on exposure days 1-3 which was largely reversed by day 4. Symptom responses generally paralleled the physiological responses. These results suggest that at least some humans adapt to O3 exposure at concentrations occurring in severe community air pollution episodes, to the extent that obvious acute respiratory effects are prevented. Other adverse effects of O3 may not be prevented by this adaptation.