| Keywords |
Cardiorespiratory response ; Blood lactate ; Volatile organic compounds ; Acute exercise ; Individual variability |
| Abstract |
This study examined whether an acute exercise during a short-term exposure to a polluted environment affected pulmonary function and physiological responses in healthy young adults. Thirteen men (mean = 22.4 yrs) were randomly exposed to a polluted air (PA) or to clean air (CA) in a chamber. During the exposure, they rested for 30 min followed by a bench stepping exercise (40 cm height, 120 bpm) for 10 min. And they recovered from the exercise for 15 min in the chamber. The pulmonary function, heart rate, blood lactate, and blood pressure were measured during the exposure. At the end of 30 min resting, peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) was higher in PA than CA. Immediately after the exercise, forced expiratory volume at 1 sec (FEV1) was higher in PA than CA. At 15th min of recovery, forced vital capacity, FEV1, and PEFR were significantly higher in PA than CA. No differences in cardiovascular and blood lactate responses were noticed. The results suggest that an acute intensive physical work out with breathing of volatile organic compounds induced changes of pulmonary function but not physiological adjustments. |