Irritants capable of causing chemical pneumonitis include vomitus,[2] barium used in gastro-intestinal imaging, chlorine gas (among other pulmonary agents),[2] ingested gasoline[2] or other petroleum distillates, ingested or skin absorbed pesticides,[2] gases from electroplating,[2] smoke[2] and others.

Mineral oil should not be given internally to young children, pets, or anyone with a cough, hiatal hernia, or nocturnal reflux, because it can cause complications such as lipoid pneumonia.

[4] The pragmatic challenge is to distinguish from aspiration pneumonia with an infectious component because the former does not require antibiotics while the latter does.

While some issues, such as a recent history of exposure to substantive toxins, can foretell the diagnosis, for a patient with dysphagia the diagnosis may be less obvious, as the dysphagic patient may have caustic gastric contents damaging the lungs which may or may not have progressed to bacterial infection.

[5] The following tests help determine how severely the lungs are affected: Treatment is focused on reversing the cause of inflammation and reducing symptoms.