Lung repair in aging Fischer 344 male rats was investigated after an acute inhalation exposure to ozone. Adult (9-month-old) and senescent (24-month-old) rats were exposed to 0.8 ppm ozone for a single period of 6 hours, and thereafter studied over 5 days of recovery in clean air. The animals were given intraperitoneal injections of colchicine and [3H]thymidine, 4 hours and 1.5 hours before termination, respectively. The lungs were inflated with glutaraldehyde, and tissue samples were embedded in epoxy resin for electron microscopy, or in glycol methacrylate for light-microscopic autoradiography. Exposure to ozone produced epithelial injury in alveolar ducts and terminal bronchioles, later reflected by the transient increase in mitotic activity of nonciliated bronchiolar cells and alveolar type 2 cells. The increase in metaphase-arrested cells and [3H]thymidine-labeled cells in bronchioles followed similar time courses, ie, maximal at days 1.5 to 2, and subsiding by day 3. In the alveoli, type 1 cell necrosis was observed early after exposure (6 hours recovery), without notable structural changes in the interstitial and endothelial compartments. The increased mitotic activity in the alveolar septa was mostly due to proliferation of epithelial type 2 cells, which was maximal at day 1.5, and of interstitial cells, maximal at day 2.5. The magnitude of the mitotic responses of nonciliated bronchiolar cells, alveolar type 2 cells and interstitial cells was highest (+50%) in the lungs of senescent rats. Although the cellular events during repair are essentially similar in both age groups, the results indicate that senescent rats have a significantly higher level of initial injury from inhalation of ozone than adult animals.