What happens to drugs that are exhaled from the body?

When drugs are exhaled from the body, they are typically converted to gases. Certain volatile substances, including some anesthetics and other drug metabolites, can enter the alveoli of the lungs during their phase of elimination from the body. As these substances move from the bloodstream into the lungs, they can be expelled through the respiratory process.

In this context, the conversion to gases is crucial because it facilitates the elimination of these drugs via respiration, rather than through other bodily excretion methods like urine or feces. This process can be particularly notable with drugs that have low molecular weights and are naturally gaseous or those that change state to gas upon metabolism or excretion. The ability of certain drugs to be exhaled illustrates a particular route of pharmacokinetics, emphasizing the diverse pathways through which the body clears substances.

The other options suggest processes that do not accurately represent how exhalation works in relation to drug clearance. For example, drugs that are stored in the liver or converted into solids would not be part of the respiratory elimination pathway.