Lung volumes and lung capacities are measures of the volume of air in the lungs at different phases of the respiratory cycle.
The average total lung capacity of an adult human male is about 6 litres of air.
Tidal breathing is normal, resting breathing; the tidal volume is the volume of air that is inhaled or exhaled in only a single such breath.
The average human respiratory rate is 30–60 breaths per minute at birth, decreasing to 12–20 breaths per minute in adults.
Factors affecting volumes
Several factors affect lung volumes; some can be controlled, and some cannot be controlled. Lung volumes vary with different people as follows:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:60%;"
! scope="col" width="300" | Larger volume
! scope="col" width="300" | Smaller volumes
|-
| taller people || shorter people
|-
| people who live at higher altitudes || people who live at lower altitudes
|-
|fit||obese
|}
A person who is born and lives at sea level will develop a slightly smaller lung capacity than a person who spends their life at a high altitude. This is because the partial pressure of oxygen is lower at higher altitude which, as a result means that oxygen less readily diffuses into the bloodstream. In response to higher altitude, the body's diffusing capacity increases in order to process more air. Also, due to the lower environmental air pressure at higher altitudes, the air pressure within the breathing system must be lower in order to inhale; in order to meet this requirement, the thoracic diaphragm has a tendency to lower to a greater extent during inhalation, which in turn causes an increase in lung volume.
When someone living at or near sea level travels to locations at high altitudes (e.g. the Andes; Denver, Colorado; Tibet; the Himalayas) that person can develop a condition called altitude sickness because their lungs remove adequate amounts of carbon dioxide but they do not take in enough oxygen. (In normal individuals, carbon dioxide is the primary determinant of respiratory drive.)
Lung function development is reduced in children who grow up near motorways although this seems at least in part reversible. Air pollution exposure affects FEV<sub>1</sub> in asthmatics, but also affects FVC and FEV<sub>1</sub> in healthy adults even at low concentrations.
Specific changes in lung volumes also occur during pregnancy. Functional residual capacity drops 18–20%, giving an increase in pulmonary ventilation. This is necessary to meet the increased oxygen requirement of the body, which reaches 50 ml/min, 20 ml of which goes to reproductive tissues. Overall, the net change in maximum breathing capacity is zero.
Values
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Average lung volumes in healthy adults
! rowspan="2" | Volume
! colspan="2" | Value (litres)
|-
| align="center" | In men
| align="center" | In women
|-
| Inspiratory reserve volume (IRV)
| align="center" | 3.3
| align="center" | 1.9
|-
| Tidal volume (TV)
| align="center" | 0.5
| align="center" | 0.5
|-
| Expiratory reserve volume (ERV)
| align="center" | 1.1
| align="center" | 0.7
|-
| Residual volume (RV)
| align="center" | 1.2
| align="center" | 1.1
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Lung capacities in healthy adults or as a proportion of vital capacity (0.24 for men and 0.28 for women) or in relation to height and age ((0.0275* Age [Years]+0.0189*Height [cm]−2.6139) litres for normal-mass individuals and (0.0277*Age [Years]+0.0138*Height [cm]−2.3967) litres for overweight individuals). Standard errors in prediction equations for residual volume have been measured at 579 ml for men and 355 ml for women, while the use of 0.24*FVC gave a standard error of 318 ml.
Online calculators are available that can compute predicted lung volumes, and other spirometric parameters based on a patient's age, height, weight, and ethnic origin for many reference sources.
British rower and three-time Olympic gold medalist Pete Reed is reported to hold the largest recorded lung capacity of 11.68 litres; US swimmer Michael Phelps is also said to have a lung capacity of around 12 litres.
Weight of breath
The mass of one breath is approximately a gram (0.5-5 g). A litre of air weighs about 1.2 g (1.2 kg/m<sup>3</sup>). A half litre ordinary tidal breath