Mark Megahan
Indoor air pollution is a whole lot worse at the International Space Station than anyone imagined. One of the two biggest challenges is the limited supply of air to start with. It’s not like they can open a window. Combine that with the micro-gravity, which means dust won’t settle anywhere. It keeps drifting around. The part that nobody realized is that the ubiquitous dust also happens to be saturated with a wide array of toxic chemicals.
Space Station is toxic
The guys at OSHA aren’t real happy with a report that recently came out which says the International Space Station is contaminated. No matter how mad they get, there isn’t a whole lot they can do to remedy the toxic situation. Not with present technology.
Everyone envisions spacecraft to be the epitome of a clean and pristine environment but the reality is a whole lot different. Astronauts take their lives in their hands simply trying to breathe.
There may not be any dirt in the space station but there is a whole lot of dust. Mostly, it’s the same as the dust in your home. Skin flakes and clothing lint. Until recently, nobody considered that all this dust might be soaked in harmful toxic chemicals. The effects of exposure are only beginning to be recognized and explored by the medical community.
One of the things researchers were looking for in the ISS dust are the so-called “forever chemicals.” They were surprised to find out how much higher the levels are in space than on the ground.
According to the study, some compounds were found in levels “higher than ever reported in household dust.” Specifically, “perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a compound often found in non-stick and stain-resistant products, food packaging, and fire-fighting foam.”
On the station, that one was logged at “around 3.3 parts per million.” In your home, you can expect to find around 2.0 ppm., which is still high.
Unique indoor environment
The experts who did the study, dated August 8, note that the “mix of chemicals found in the dust reflect the requirements of the space station’s ‘unique indoor environment.‘” NASA engineers are exceptionally paranoid about a fire on the station.
“Very careful attention is paid to flammability of ISS contents.” That means every single component has been soaked in flame-retarding chemicals. Especially, all the foams, webbing, and fabrics.
Another source of the PFOA “may be due to the widespread use of waterproofing treatments which prevent microbes from growing onboard.” While dust doesn’t settle, it only floats around loose in the space station air until the filters catch the particles.
As part of their regular housekeeping chores, they go around with a dust buster and vacuum out the intake screens to keep them clear. The bags of dirt get sent back home.
Stuart Harrad, a study author and environmental chemist at the University of Birmingham, U.K. had his grad students sort through all the “metal particles, lint from clothes, hair, skin flakes, and other debris.” What they found was a whole lot more “organophosphate esters and brominated flame retardants” than they expected.
They think that BFR levels on the station “may rise because astronauts sometimes vacuum the wall panels and acoustic insulation. And foam is ubiquitous onboard the space station because it is used to pack and protect items from the violent shaking when they are delivered via rocket launch.“
