INFLUENCE OF LAVAGE TREATMENT ON THE DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS OF INHALED, RELATIVELY INSOLUBLE PARTICLES IN THE LUNG

Four beagle dogs were exposed by inhalation to polydisperse fused alu-minosilicate particles labeled with147Pm and169Yb. The left or right lung of each dog was lavaged one or five times with normal saline to remove a portion of the particles. Autoradiographic and computer techniques were combined to determine the dispersion pattern of radioactive particles still in the lung after lavage treatment. For all four dogs the dispersion pattern of particles in the lung was similar for the lavaged and nonlavaged lung lobes. Examination of the autoradiograms indicated that lavage procedures did not preferentially remove particles from some area of the lung. The similarity of particle dispersion patterns suggests that minimal relocation of particles in lung results from lavage treatment. © 1979 Health Physics Society.