Abstract
In an attempt to discover regions of very low heavy element abundance, we have observed H II regions in 7 nearby, very low luminosity dwarf irregular galaxies. All yield oxygen abundances of less than one‐tenth of the solar value, and three are within a factor of two of the lowest oxygen abundance ever detected in an H II region. These new abundance measurements are combined with other abundance measurements in nearby irregular galaxies, and a strong correlation is found between the oxygen abundance and galaxy luminosity. This relationship is used to infer that infall is no more important in irregular galaxies with extremely large H I haloes than in typical irregular galaxies. Surprisingly, dwarf elliptical galaxies closely adhere to the relationship defined by irregulars.
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