Increased pulmonary toxicity of ultrafine particles? II. Lung lavage studies

Inhaled ultrafine particles below about 100 nm will almost exclusively be deposited throughout the respiratory tract by diffusional processes. It appears that interstitial access of those ultrafine particles is increased compared to larger ones, and the question arises whether such increased interstitial access of those particles poses an increased risk of lung injury. The authors determined the acute and late inflammatory reaction in the lung after instillation of equal amounts of two different dusts.