Automotive exhaust and mouse activity: relationships between pollutant concentrations and decreases in wheel running.

Groups of male and female mice inhaled either clean air, 100 ppm carbon monoxide, or light-irradiated and nonirradiated automotive exhaust containing nominally 25, 50, 75, or 100 ppm carbon monoxide in three tests with exposure lasting from 4 to 7 days. Exhaust from a factory or lean-tuned engine in the first and third tests reversibly suppressed activity wheel running during exposure in mice of both sexes by as much as 78.3 and 83.1%, respectively. Light-irradiated exhaust suppressed running more than nonirradiated exhaust. For the second test, when the engine was tuned to be low in pollutants other than carbon monoxide, exhaust did not suppress running. Exposure to carbon monoxide alone only slightly decreased running in male mice, but increased running in female mice.