By Lauren Lipuma 
 
 Future astronauts spending long periods of time on the Moon could suffer bronchitis and other health problems by inhaling tiny particles of dust from its surface, according to new research. 
 
 A new study finds simulated lunar soil is toxic to human lung and mouse brain cells. Up to 90 percent of human lung cells and mouse neurons died when exposed to dust particles that mimic soils found on the Moon’s surface. 
 
 The results show breathing toxic dust, even in minute quantities, could pose a health hazard to future astronauts traveling to the Moon, Mars or other airless planetary bodies. Space agencies know exposure to the space environment and zero gravity can be harmful to human health, but planetary dust poses an additional risk that has been mostly overlooked, according to the researchers. 
 
 “There are risks to extraterrestrial exploration, both lunar and beyond, more than just the immediate risks of space itself,” said Rachel Caston, a geneticist at Stony Brook University School of Medicine in Stony Brook, New York and lead author of the new study published in GeoHealth, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. 
 
 Lunar dust caused reactions similar to hay fever in astronauts who visited the Moon during the Apollo missions. Their experience coupled with the new study’s results suggest prolonged exposure to lunar dust could impair airway and lung function, according to Bruce Demple, a biochemist at Stony Brook University School of Medicine and senior author of the new study. If the dust induces inflammation in the lungs, it could increase the risk of more serious diseases like cancer, he said. 
 
 “If there are trips back to the Moon that involve stays of weeks, months or even longer, it probably won’t be possible to eliminate that risk completely,” Demple said. 
 
 Early warnings of toxicity 
 
 The Moon has no atmosphere, so its soil is constantly bombarded by charged particles from the upper layers of the Sun that stream through space. These charged particles cause lunar soil to become electrostatically charged, like static cling on clothing. 
 
 When U.S. astronauts visited the Moon during the Apollo missions, they brought lunar soil into the command module when it clung to their spacesuits. After inhaling the fine dust, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt described having a reaction he called “lunar hay fever” – sneezing, watery eyes and a sore throat. 
 
 The Apollo astronauts’ symptoms were short lived, but researchers wanted to know how lunar dust could affect astronauts’ health long term and if it could cause problems similar to those caused by toxic dust on Earth. 
 
 Previous research has shown breathing toxic dust from volcanic eruptions, dust storms and coal mines can cause bronchitis, wheezing, eye irritation and scarring of lung tissue. Dust particles can accumulate in a person’s airways and the smallest particles can infiltrate alveoli, the tiny sacs where carbon dioxide is exchanged for oxygen in the lungs. Dust can also damage cells’ DNA, which can cause mutations and lead to cancer, according to previous research. 
 
 Exposing cells to dust particles 
 
 In the new study, Caston and her colleagues exposed human lung cells and mouse brain cells to several types of lunar soil simulants. Samples of lunar soil are too scarce and valuable to use in everyday experiments, so the researchers used dust samples from Earth that resemble soil found in lunar highlands and the Moon’s volcanic plains. 
 
 Caston grew the cells under controlled conditions and exposed them to the various types of dust. She counted how many cells were left and measured whether the simulants caused DNA damage. 
 
 She found all the simulant types killed or damaged the cells’ DNA to some degree. Simulants ground to a powder fine enough to be inhaled killed up to 90 percent of both cell types. The simulants killed the human lung cells so effectively the researchers couldn’t measure the DNA damage. The simulants also caused significant DNA damage in mouse neurons. 
 
 The results indicate lunar soil could cause health problems for humans spending long periods of time on the Moon or other airless bodies, according to the researchers. When inhaled, the dust could irritate the throat, lungs and eyes of future astronauts. Over a long period of time, the continuing damage, irritation and inflammation would increase the risk of more serious disease, including cancer, Demple said. 
 
 The researchers are unsure how the simulants kill cells, but they suspect they could be initiating an inflammatory response within the cell or generating free radicals, which strip electrons from molecules and prevent them from functioning properly. 
 
 — Lauren Lipuma is AGU’s public information specialist and science writer. Follow her on twitter at @Tenacious_She. 

 Nobody said living in space was going to be easy. Beyond the actual difficulty of getting there, day-to-day living won't be a moonwalk in the park either. Even with oxygen habitats to breathe in, a new study finds, lunar dust could quickly infiltrate human lungs, leading to a host of health problems. 
 
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 Prolonged exposure to lunar dust could impair airway and lung function and make diseases like bronchitis commonplace in a moon community, says the new study published in GeoHealth by Stony Brook University in New York. The dust could also induce inflammation in the lungs, increasing the risk of cancer. 
 
 Lunar dirt isn't like Earth dirt. Crucially, the Earth has a protective atmosphere, while the moon does not. The lunar soil is frequently and reliably beset by charged particles from the upper layers of the sun, known as solar wind. Once they hit the moon, the solar particles make the lunar soil electrostatically charged, similar to the static cling created by rubbing a balloon on someone's hair. 
 
 Scientists have known about lunar dirt's unusual properties for decades. During the Apollo 11 crewed landing, the astronauts noted that "particles covered everything and a stain remained even after our best attempts to brush it off." The dust maintained a "distinct pungent odor like gunpowder noted when helmet removed." While the Apollo astronauts suffered no serious ailments from the lunar dirt, that could be due to the fact that their time on the lunar surface was so brief. 
 
 “If there are trips back to the moon that involve stays of weeks, months or even longer, it probably won’t be possible to eliminate that risk completely,” Bruce Demple, a biochemist at Stony Brook and senior author of the new study, said in a press statement. 
 
 The new study exposed human lung cells and mouse brain cells to soil samples that mimic lunar dust. The team grew the cells under controlled conditions and then ground the material into a fine, breathable powder. 
 
 What they found was conclusive: when inhaled, the dust decimated the lung and mouse cells up to 90 percent. In the case of the human lung cells, the damage was too catastrophic to fully measure. The simulated lunar dust even damaged the cells at a DNA level. 
 
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 The same properties of lunar dust that make it terrible to breathe also make it cling to everything, meaning it will be difficult to prevent it from getting into breathing areas entirely—an additional engineering challenge for a moon habitat. But humans have only been flying to space for about half a century, and scientists are just starting to get a grip on the multitude of challenges facing long-term space dwellers. In another half century, who know where we'll tread. 
 
 Source: American Geophysical Union
– Spending time on the moon just got a little more complicated. A new study has found that lunar soil is extremely toxic and that even small amounts of lunar dirt could be damaging to lungs, reports Popular Mechanics. Astronauts on the Apollo missions first noticed problems with space dust when it clung to their spacesuits and was difficult to brush off after moonwalks. They also suffered watery eyes, sore throats, and sneezing—a condition that Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt described as "lunar hay fever," per the Smithsonian. Their reaction was consistent with a large body of research that shows breathing dust from coal mines and volcano eruptions can cause long-term lung damage and increase risk of cancer. To test the risk of moon dust, researchers at Stony Brook University School of Medicine in New York grew a batch of human lung cells and mouse brain cells, then exposed the cells to various types of earth dust that closely resemble lunar dust. They found that exposure to moon-like particles killed up to 90% of all the cells and virtually destroyed DNA. One reason lunar dirt is so toxic is that unlike earth soil, it is constantly exposed to "charged particles from the upper layers of the sun," per Popular Mechanics. The study didn't use real lunar dust, Gizmodo notes, but moon visitors still have reason to worry: "If there are trips back to the moon that involve stays of weeks, months, or even longer it probably won’t be possible to eliminate that risk completely," lead study author Bruce Demple says in a statement. (Meanwhile, Russia and the US are building a moon base.)