How trace element distributions can be used to probe human exposure to atmospheric fallout

Medical literature recognised several effects of human exposure to inhalation of air dispersed particles that could induce pulmonary diseases, but the hypothesis that reactions occurring between inhaled particles and human respiratory fluids could involve trace element leaching was poorly understood and only a scarce literature about in-vitro experiments suggested it. The present research was carried out on a group of volunteer patients exposed to the natural inhalation of atmospheric particles in a highly anthropized area close to Mt. Etna under explosive volcanic eruption in Summer 2001. Collected data shoed, for the first time, that the dissolution of inhaled solids influenced the chemis…