Title: “Investigating Susceptibility of Cardiorespiratory Responses to Ozone During Cycling Exercise Based on Resting Ozone Exposure”
Supervisor: Dr. Michael Koehle
Committee members: Dr. Bill Sheel, Dr. Valerie Bougault
Abstract: Ground level ozone (O3) is a common airborne pollutant that is well recognized to cause negative respiratory symptoms and impair pulmonary function. During competition and high-intensity exercise, athletes inspire high volumes of ambient air, increasing the effective dose of pollution in a relatively short time period when compared to resting or low-intensity exercise. The proposed study aims to have participants perform submaximal and maximal cycling exercise protocols exposed to both O3 and room air in a crossover design to evaluate how ventilatory patterns, pulmonary function, development of symptoms, and cycling performance are impacted by O3 exposure. Additionally, we look to compare responses between O3 at rest and during exercise to predict which subjects might be most susceptible to adverse response, as considerable interindividual variability exists. It is hypothesized that acute exposure to O3 will lead to pulmonary function alterations during both rest and exercise; individuals with a greater response to O3 at rest will have a proportionately greater response during exercise, and that exercise performance under O3 exposure will be reduced when compared to filtered air. With high-profile athletic competitions, such as the Olympic Games, often held near metropolitan areas with high ambient levels of pollutants, understanding susceptibility to adverse effects of O3 is of increased importance.