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The Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis is a technique of elemental analysis associated to electron microscopy based on the generation of characteristic Xrays that reveals the presence of elements present in the specimens. The EDX microanalysis is used in different biomedical fields by many researchers and clinicians. Nevertheless, most of the scientific community is not fully aware of its possible applications. The spectrum of EDX microanalysis contains both semi-qualitative and semi-quantitative information. EDX technique is made useful in the study of drugs, such as in the study of drugs delivery in which the EDX is an important tool to detect nanoparticles (generally, used to improve the therapeutic performance of some chemotherapeutic agents). EDX is also used in the study of environmental pollution and in the characterization of mineral bioaccumulated in the tissues. In conclusion, the EDX can be considered as a useful tool in all works that require element determination, endogenous or exogenous, in the tissue, cell or any other sample.

Human cardio-respiratory diseases are strongly correlated to concentrations of atmospheric elements. Bioaccumulation of heavy metals is strictly monitored, because of its possible toxic effects. In this work, we utilized the EDX microanalysis in order to identify the potential heavy metal accumulation in the lung tissue.  To this aim, we enrolled 45 human lung biopsies: 15 non-small cell lung cancers, 15 lung benign lesions and 15 control biopsies. Lung samples were both paraffin embedded for light microscopy study and eponepoxid embedded for transmission electron microscopy. EDX microanalysis was performed on 100 nm thick unstained ultrathin-sections placed on specific copper grids. Our results demonstrated that the EDX technology was particularly efficient in the study of elemental composition of lung tissues, where we found heavy metals, such as Cobalt (Co), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn) and Lead (Pb). Furthermore, in malignant lesions we demonstrated the presence of multiple bio-accumulated elements. In fact, a high rate of lung cancers was associated with the presence of 3 or more bio-accumulated elements compared to benign lesions and control tissue (91.7%, 0%, 8.3%, respectively). The environmental impact on pulmonary carcinogenesis could be better clarified by demonstrating the presence of polluting agents in lung tissues. The application of EDX microanalysis on biological tissuescould shed new light in the study of the possible bioaccumulation of polluting agents in different human organs and systems.