Deposition of bauxite dust and pulmonary fibrosis.

In a 70 years old worker in the bauxite industry in Surinam, who died of myocardial infarction, bauxite deposits were found in the lung in areas of mild pulmonary fibrosis. The identification and the localization within these areas of the bauxite deposits was determined by a histochemical mineralization technique and by scanning electron microscopy and electron microprobe analysis. The possible relationship between the presence of bauxite in the lung tissue and the pulmonary fibrosis is discussed.