Microscopy and Microanalysis of Mineral Particles in Lung Biopsies of Iraq and Afghanistan Deployers, Normal Controls, and Autoimmune Lung Disease Controls

US military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have been variably exposed to desert dusts, smoke from burn pits, and urban particulate matter, and some have developed constrictive bronchiolitis. We performed FE-SEM/EDS and LA-ICP-MS analyses as part of a larger blinded study to identify the particle types present, count numbers of particles of different types, and map the distribution of particles and metals in biopsied lung tissue sections collected from deployers, a normal ageand smokingmatched control group, and an autoimmune control group.