Ambient Air Pollution and Human Performance: Contemporaneous and Acclimatization E ects of Ozone Exposure on Athletic Performance

While the negative impacts of air pollution on human productive capacity and health have long been studied in both laboratory and ambient exposure settings, the majority of research has focused on the e ects of acute, single-period exposures on at-risk populations. This study signi cantly expands this scope through an examination of the e ects of low-level, ambient ozone exposure in both the present and recent past on the performance capacities of t, working-aged individuals. Using a multi-pollutant exposure framework and panel data from intercollegiate track & eld athletes, I identify a robustly signi cant negative performance e ect of ozone exposure in endurance events at the low ambient levels ubiquitous in the developed world today. Additionally, I nd an acclimatization e ect of ozone whereby di erential exposure histories modulate the magnitude of contemporaneous ozone e ects by a factor of nearly three. These results underscore the importance of considering both low-level and past exposures in assessing the costs of air pollution.