Inhalation of airborne particles can produce crystallization of phosphatic microcrysts in intraaveolar areas of lungs, sometimes degenerating into pulmonary fibrosis. Results of this study indicate that these pathologies are induced by interactions between lung fluids and inhaled atmospheric dust in people exposed to volcanic dust ejected from Mount Etna in 2001. Here, the lung solid–liquid interaction is evaluated by the distribution of yttrium and lanthanides (YLn) in fluid bronchoalveolar lavages on selected individuals according the classical geochemical approaches. We found that shale-normalised patterns of yttrium and lanthanides have a ‘V shaped’ feature corresponding to the depletion of elements from Nd to Tb when compared to the variable enrichments of heavy lanthanides, Y, La and Ce. These features and concurrent thermodynamic simulations suggest that phosphate precipitation can occur in lungs due to interactions between volcanic particles and fluids. We propose that patterns of yttrium and lanthanides can represent a viable explanation of some pathology observed in patients after prolonged exposure to atmospheric fallout and are suitable to become a diagnostic parameter of chemical environmental stresses.