Dust from cereal grains, coffee, pesticides, drug or enzyme powders, metals and fiberglass can also hurt your lungs. Fumes such as from metals that are heated and cooled quickly. This process results in fine, solid particles being carried in the air. Examples of jobs that involve exposure to fumes from metals and other substances that are heated and cooled quickly include welding, smelting, furnace work, pottery making, plastics manufacture and rubber operations. Smoke from burning organic materials.
Smoke can contain a variety of dusts, gases and vapors, depending on what is burning.
Firefighters are at special risk. Gases such as formaldehyde, ammonia, chlorine, sulfur dioxide, ozone and nitrogen oxides. These gases can be found in jobs where chemical reactions occur and in jobs with high heat operations, such as welding, brazing, smelting, oven drying and furnace work. Vapors , which are a form of gas given off by all liquids. Vapors, such as those given off by solvents, usually irritate the nose and throat first, before they affect the lungs.