LANTHANIDE PARTICLES IN THE LUNG OF A PRINTER

Lanthanides were extracted from the lung tissue of a subject with a hi story of potential exposure to carbon-arc lamp emissions in printing s hops. The characterization of inorganic particles was performed by ene rgy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) on a transmission electron mic roscope (TEM) and laser microprobe mass analysis (LAMMA). Both techniq ues showed the presence of elemental Ce, La and Nd at concentrations h igher than the average concentration measured in 41 other workers who had died of cancer at various sites. The lung content of other prismat ic and compact particles did not show any statistically significant di fferences between the case and the control group.