[Intrapulmonary deposition of inframicron particles during inspiratory apnea (author's transl)]

An experimental approach of the intrapulmonary deposition of particles with a diameter below 1 micron, suspended in the surrounding atmosphere, was done on two normal subjects during inspiratory apnea with a Whitby impactor. The first results seem to agree with those of literature and confirm the importance of pulmonary morphometric factors in the deposition processes. Numerous methodological problems remain, but it appears that the technique would be useful to evaluate the likelyhood of deposition of submicron particles which are presently known to be pathogenic.