The effect of pre-exercise diesel exhaust exposure on cycling performance and cardio-respiratory variables

Abstract

A 60-min exposure to DE prior to exercise significantly attenuated exercise-induced bronchodilation and significantly increased heart rate during exercise. Pre-exercise exposure to diesel exhaust did not significantly impair 20 km cycling time trial performance.

Effects of diesel exposure on lung function and inflammation biomarkers from airway and peripheral blood of healthy volunteers in a chamber study

“…PEF was seldom measured at DE exposure in healthy volunteers, but in asthmatics exposed to DE (PM 10 100 μg/m 3 ) for 2 h, there was a non-significant trend towards a decreased PEF immediately after exposure [33]. Similar to other studies [20,34], we performed spirometry before and after exposures and failed to find significant difference in FEV 1 changes, although we used a longer exposure time (3 h). This also reflected that the time points of monitoring may be important.…”

Respiratory and inflammatory responses to short-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution with and without moderate physical activity

“…Giles et al observed an FEV 1 increase in endurance-trained males after 20 km cycling following an exposure to filtered air. This increase was attenuated when participants were exposed to diesel exhaust prior to the exercise 39. Strak et al 9 examined the effects of air pollution on healthy cyclists and also showed weak lung function increases immediately after cycling, and only 6 h after negative associations between lung function and air pollution.…”

Air Pollution and Exercise

“…Similarly, Cutrufello et al 38 observed a decrease of total work examining the effect of either high PM or low PM conditions among healthy males during submaximal exercise for 20 minutes followed by a 6-minute maximal work accumulation exercise test. In contrast to the aforementioned studies, Giles et al 39 found that pre-exercise exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) did not significantly impair cycling performance, V · O 2 or V · E , during a 20 km time trial among endurance-trained males. Although authors 39 reported that DE exposure before cycling performance significantly increased exercise HR, several studies have failed to find an association between HR and PM exposure among healthy subjects during maximal exercise test, 37 as well as in healthy subjects 40 and men with CAD 41 during submaximal exercise tests (15-minute periods of exercise on a bicycle ergometer separated by 15-minute periods of rest, at workload calibrated to achieve a ventilation of 25 and 15 L/min/m 2 , respectively).…”

“…Although authors 39 reported that DE exposure before cycling performance significantly increased exercise HR, several studies have failed to find an association between HR and PM exposure among healthy subjects during maximal exercise test, 37 as well as in healthy subjects 40 and men with CAD 41 during submaximal exercise tests (15-minute periods of exercise on a bicycle ergometer separated by 15-minute periods of rest, at workload calibrated to achieve a ventilation of 25 and 15 L/min/m 2 , respectively). The discrepancies between previous studies could be due to different timing (pre-exercise 39 vs exercise 37 , 38 exposure) and/or characteristics of exposures (PM 1 37 , 38 vs DE [39][40][41] ) in relation to exercise, and moreover to the intermittent and submaximal characteristics of exercise protocols (intermittent-submaximal 40 , 41 vs maximal test 37 , 38 ). Finally, among ambient pollution studies, an interesting publication examined the times of the top 3 finishers in 7 US marathons for 8 to 28 years old and identified performance decrements associated with PM 10 among women.…”