In twenty fattened pigs with papular dermatitis (PD) and in seventeen pigs with no skin lesions (K),--the pigs had the live weight from 95 to 105 kg and came from a D. large fattening house situated in a region with extensive mining (lignite extraction)--we analyzed the skin, muscle, kidneys and liver for the contents of chemical elements (zinc, copper, manganese, lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium) and aflatoxin B1. In pancreas we analyzed only the content of aflatoxin B1. In comparison with the K group, the pigs with PD had in the skin the higher contents of zinc (PD 15.7 +/- 7.1 mg per kg, K 10.1 +/- 1.3 mg per kg, P less than 0.05) and aflatoxin B1 (PD 3.18 +/- 1.53 micrograms per kg, K 1.56 +/- 0.49 microgram per kg, P less than 0.05); in the muscle the higher contents of zinc (PD 30.2 +/- 7.6 mg per kg, K 23.8 +/- 5.4 mg per kg, P less than 0.05), of lead (PD 0.48 +/- 0.31 mg per kg, K 0.25 +/- 0.28 mg per kg, P less than 0.05) and copper (PD 3.19 +/- 3.11 mg per kg, K 0.98 +/- 0.41 mg per kg, P less than 0.01); in the kidneys the higher contents of lead (PD 0.96 +/- 0.75 mg per kg, K 0.26 +/- 0.34 mg per kg, P less than 0.01), cadmium (PD 0.38 +/- 0.14 mg per kg, K 0.26 +/- 0.20 mg per kg, P less than 0.05), manganese (PD 1.14 +/- 0.04 mg per kg, K 0.94 +/- 0.42 mg per kg, P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)