When people aspirate very small amounts of food and drink and it enters the lungs, what happens to that food/liquid? Does it go away or just build up?

Question

I’m asking specifically about when you have just a little bit of food matter or liquid “go down the wrong pipe” and it doesn’t make you choke or have to get it removed. Does something happen to it after it enters the lungs?

In: Biology

Answer 1

The cells in your lungs have tiny hair like strands that beat and move substances up and out of the lungs.

You constantly produce mucus in the lungs that will trap small debris/pathogens and it gets passed up and usually then swallowed where stomach acid kills the pathogens.

These hairs don’t work in people with cystic fibrosis and they need help to clear the lungs with massage.

Edit: spelling of mucus