Biological Methods

The human health effects that result from breathing air pollutants depend on the amount of pollutant inhaled from the air (exposure dose) and the amount of inhaled material that stays in the respiratory tract (retained dose). Because the retained dose of a pollutant may damage the respiratory tract and cause disease, it is a key factor for determining appropriate government regulations for air pollutants. Drs.

This report describes a study by Drs. Ultman and Ben-Jebria to develop a chemiluminescent ozone analyzer and constructed an ozone bolus generator with the goal of using bolus concentration-response methods to noninvasively measure the longitudinal distribution of ozone absorption in human lungs. The analyzer was based on the chemiluminescent reaction between 2-methyl-2-butene and ozone. Validation of the system was performed in excised pig and sheep tracheas, and the resulting absorption coefficient was computed.