How do the lungs get rid of the particles in the air that are trapped in the lungs?
In: Biology
The lungs are filled with branching tubes (bronchi and bronchioles), which lead to tiny sacs called alveoli.
The tubes are coated with sticky mucus, and little waving hairs (cilia) that push the mucus up into your throat until you swallow it. Dust gets stuck in the mucus, and the hairs lift it up until you swallow it.
But the little sacks (the alveoli) don’t have any little hairs, so if dust gets deep into the lungs, all the way to the alveoli, it’s hard to get it out. Usually, only very fine particles make it that far into the lungs.
But you do have little cells that crawl around inside the alveoli, which can swallow up tiny particles. like little lung roombas. they’re called macrophages, and they’re part of your immune system.
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