Ozone Pollution Impairs Athletic Performance in Female Football Players: A Gender-Specific Analysis
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Setting
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Correlation Analysis
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. The Impact of Ambient Air Pollutants on the Athletic Performance
3.2. Comparisons Between the Fixed Effects
3.3. Lag Effect
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
- (1)
- A strong negative association was observed between the O3 concentration and long-term endurance. The fixed effect coefficients for O3 on total movement distance, jogging distance, and walking distance were −22.426 ± 8.889, −10.817 ± 3.697, and −6.943 ± 3.265, respectively;
- (2)
- No significant correlation was found between the PM2.5, SO2, and CO concentrations and athletic performance. This may be attributed to the relatively low levels of these pollutants compared with the threshold value for air quality during the match period, which likely had a limited impact on the athletes;
- (3)
- No lag effect was observed in the impact of air pollutants on athletic performance;
- (4)
- During the monitored match period, the temperature was negatively correlated with athletic performance.
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
PM2.5 | Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm |
O3 | Ozone |
SO2 | Sulfur dioxide |
NO | Nitrogen dioxide |
CO | Carbon monoxide |
TMD | Total movement distance |
JD | Jogging distance |
WD | Walking distance |
WHO | World Health Organization |
COPD | Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease |
RTI | Respiratory Tract Infections |
FIFA | Fédération Internationale de Football Association |
CNEMC | China National Environmental Monitoring Center |
GLMM | Generalized Linear Mixed Model |
GLM | Generalized Linear Model |
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Parameters | Total Movement Distance (TMD) | Jogging Distance (JD) | Walking Distance (WD) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Estimated Value (EV) | Standard Error (SE) | EV | SE | EV | SE | ||
Fixed effect parameters | Intercept | 12,926.1 | 3982.8 | 2466.7 | 1865.3 | 6191.6 | 1525.6 |
Ambient temperature | −28.1 *** | 6.7 | −8.1 ** | 3.0 | −16.1 *** | 2.6 | |
Dew point | 18.2 | 10.8 | 5.035 | 4.6 | 6.6 | 4.7 | |
Height | −9.8 | 27.0 | 12.490 | 12.7 | −14.4 | 9.9 | |
Weight | −20.8 | 31.0 | −25.049 | 14.2 | 32.4 ** | 11.2 | |
Percentage of body fat | −64.9 | 38.0 | −20.373 | 17.4 | −41.4 ** | 14.4 | |
PM2.5 | 35.3 | 23.8 | 17.592 | 9.5 | 13.8 | 9.2 | |
O3 | −22.4 * | 8.9 | −10.817 ** | 3.7 | −6.9 * | 3.3 | |
SO2 | 138.0 | 92.9 | 72.912 | 38.6 | 38.1 | 41.4 | |
NO2 | 163.1 * | 72.0 | 62.922 * | 30.1 | 56.9 | 31.8 | |
CO | 83.199 | 101.312 | 30.096 | 47.060 | 42.627 | 40.8 |
Air Pollutant | Mean Value (μg/m3) | Standard Deviation (μg/m3) | 2021 WHO Guideline (μg/m3) [16] | Classification | 2012 China Air Quality Threshold Value (μg/m3) [17] | Classification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PM2.5 | 17.7 | 15.7 | 15 (24 h) | Below Interim target 4 | 75 (24 h) | Excellent |
O3 | 81.0 | 39.5 | 100 (8 h) | Below AQG levels | 200 (1 h) | Excellent |
SO2 | 7.4 | 2.5 | 40 (24 h) | Below AQG levels | 500 (1 h) | Excellent |
NO2 | 7.1 | 2.3 | 25 (24 h) | Below AQG levels | 200 (1 h) | Excellent |
CO | 794.0 | 1273.0 | 4000 (24 h) | Below AQG levels | 10,000 (1 h) | Excellent |
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Xing, W.; Wang, Y.; Xie, Y.; Zheng, W. Ozone Pollution Impairs Athletic Performance in Female Football Players: A Gender-Specific Analysis. Atmosphere 2025, 16, 834. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16070834
Xing W, Wang Y, Xie Y, Zheng W. Ozone Pollution Impairs Athletic Performance in Female Football Players: A Gender-Specific Analysis. Atmosphere. 2025; 16(7):834. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16070834
Chicago/Turabian StyleXing, Wei, Yuxin Wang, Yangyang Xie, and Wenbo Zheng. 2025. "Ozone Pollution Impairs Athletic Performance in Female Football Players: A Gender-Specific Analysis" Atmosphere 16, no. 7: 834. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16070834
APA StyleXing, W., Wang, Y., Xie, Y., & Zheng, W. (2025). Ozone Pollution Impairs Athletic Performance in Female Football Players: A Gender-Specific Analysis. Atmosphere, 16(7), 834. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16070834