From June 1980 to December 1981 lava dust samples from the eastern slope of Mt. Etna were periodically collected in order to estimate the volcanogenic contribution to environmental pollution. The heavy metal composition of these dusts suggests that this volcano does not basically modify the surrounding basaltic soil, but is a polluting agent of the remote Sicilian environment. In the lava‐ash the level of leachable elements is negligible. Furthermore, the amount of heavy metals enriched in volatiles relative to that in ash falling to at ground‐level appears to be signific