Effect of vapor pressure on physiologic strain and body heat storage

¹ Biothermal Section, Biomedical Laboratory, 6570th Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

Physiologic strain, in terms of body heat storage, and other physiologic responses were measured and compared in two series of heat stress experiments performed on human subjects exposed to different ambient vapor pressures. One group of 75 experiments conducted on 5 healthy nonacclimatized male subjects exposed 5 times each to 38, 54, and 71 C at 10 mm Hg vapor pressure was compared with a series of 81 experiments performed on 10 similar subjects exposed 1–6 times each to 38, 41, and 54 C at 20 mm Hg vapor pressure. Subjects were sitting and wore 1.0 clo insulation. The data show relation between body heat storage and a) the modified Craig index of physiologic strain; b) over-all sweat rate; c) evaporative rate; d) sweat-evaporative ratio; e) mean skin and rectal temperatures; and f) change of heart rate at the respective vapor pressure levels. Statistically significant correlation between sweat-evaporative ratio and over-all sweat rate with body heat storage is shown. Use of the over-all sweat response as a physiologic strain index is suggested.