Moon Dust: Astronaut Health Hazard?

July 2, 2008 -- Astronauts heading to the moon have more to worry about than rocket rides and radiation exposure. Researchers have discovered that breathing on the lunar surface could be hazardous to their health.

The problem is dust. On the moon, it's sharp-edged, chemically active and ubiquitous.

"The dust is electrostatic -- it just sticks to everything," explained University of California San Diego researcher Chantal Darquenne, who is working under a NASA grant to study how moon dust lodges in the lungs.

The first wave of lunar explorers didn't have much to worry about since their forays were relatively short. The longest stay on the moon was a 75-hour visit by Apollo 17 in 1972.

Still, the moonwalkers reported irritation and discomfort from exposure to dust, with symptoms ranging from sneezing, watery eyes and a peculiar smell resembling gunpowder, NASA flight surgeon Jeff Jones told Discovery News.

"One flight surgeon after a mission was doing microbiological sampling of the (space) suits, and when they opened the containers to check the suits, he had an allergic reaction -- irritation, sneezing, irritated mucus membranes in the eyes and nose. Nothing was serious, but it certainly is concerning," Jones said.

NASA plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2020 and eventually leave crews on the lunar surface for up to six months at a time. The space agency is figuring out health standards for dust exposure and developing technologies to reduce risks to crews and equipment.

Darquenne's team, led by physicist Kim Prisk, has been studying how inhaled particles are distributed in the lungs in reduced gravity.