School children who live in an air pollution area (principally HCl gas) were investigated with respect to increases in height and amount of pulmonary ventilation by comparing the results of physical examination in the 3rd and 5th school years. The subjects were born in a period from April 1960 to March 1961 (m : 91, f : 104). Controls were children of the corresponding age, living in non-polluted areas of the same city (m : 105, f : 104).
The results were as follows :
1) The average increase in the height in the interval between the two physical examinations was not significantly different from the control values. But, the average increase in the amount of pulmonaly ventilation was significantly higher in the pollution area both in FVC and FEV 1.0 (P < 0.01).
2) Increases in FVC and FEV1.0 in the pollution area were largest for those who gave the smallest values in the 3rd school year. This indicated the possibility of compensatory increase in the amount of pulmonary ventilation in the pollution area.
3) Correlation between increases in height and the amount of pulmonaly ventilation (both in FVC and FEV1.0) was significant in the non-pollution area (P <0.01), whereas the correlation was not significant in either sex in the pollution area.
4) Since, however, there was no significant correlation between increases in height and the amount of pulmonary ventilation in the children of pollution area, the compensatory increase in the amount of pulmonary ventilation is assumed to show considerably larger individual differences, giving wide scatter.
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