Lung Cancer cases will be comprised of patients that are confirmed to have lung cancer based on bronchoscopy/ Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) and other clinical testing.

Lung Cancer excluded cases will be comprised of the remaining patients in whom lung cancer is excluded as a diagnosis based on bronchoscopy/ Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) and other clinical testing.

Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) is a standard diagnostic tool for the evaluation of lower respiratory tract pathology including respiratory infections and unexplained radiographic pulmonary lesions including lung neoplasia. It is a minimally invasive procedure that involves introduction of the bronchoscope, installation of sterile normal saline into a subsegment of the lung, and suction and collection of the recovered saline for diagnostic evaluation.

Microplastic (MP) Burden in the Lungs will be determined by the results of the Bronchoscopy/Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL).

MPs isolated from Bronchoalveolar Fluid (BALF) will be characterized using Raman spectroscopy (RS). RS is a vibrational spectroscopy technique based on the inelastic scattering of light that provides information on the molecular vibrations of a system in the form of a vibrational spectrum. The Raman spectrum is akin to a fingerprint of chemical structure allowing identification of the components present in the sample.

For each sample, data will be generated on the presence or absence of MPs, total number of MPs, and polymer subtype distribution of MPs identified in the samples.

Concentration of Microplastics (MPs) will be determined by the number of MPs identified in 10-mLs of Bronchoalveolar Fluid (BALF).