Toxicity of Lunar Dust in Lungs Assessed by Examining Biomarkers in Exposed Mice

Details

• Personal Author:
  Castranova, Vincent ; James JT ; Khan-Mayberry N ; Lam C ; Quan C ; Taylor LA ; Young SH ; Zeidler-Erdely PC
• Description:
  NASA plans to build an outpost on the Moon for prolonged human habitation and research. The lunar surface is covered by a layer of fine soil, of which the finest portion is highly reactive dust. Because the toxicity of lunar dust is not known, its toxicity in the lungs of exposed mice was investigated in the present study. Dust samples of respirable sizes were aerodynamically isolated from two lunar soil samples of different maturities (cosmic exposure ages) collected during the Apollo 16 mission. The lunar dust samples, titanium dioxide, or quartz (Min-U-Sil-5), suspended in normal saline, were given to groups of 5 mice (C-57 male) by intrapharyngeal aspiration at 1, 0.3, or 0.1 mg/mouse. The mice were euthanized 7 or 30 days later, and their lungs were lavaged to assess the presence of toxicity biomarkers in bronchioalveolar lavage fluids. The acellular fractions were assayed for total proteins, lactate dehydrogenase activities, and cytokines; the cellular portions were assessed for total cell counts and cell differentials. The overall results showed that lunar dust was more toxic than titanium dioxide, but less toxic than quartz. The two lunar dust samples showed similar toxicity. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Biochemistry Environmental Monitoring Hazardous Substances Hypersensitivity Laboratories Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Safety Skin Skin Diseases

  More +
• Keywords:
  Airborne-particles Biological-effects Chemical-hypersensitivity Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Inhalation-studies Laboratory-animals Laboratory-testing Particle-aerodynamics Particulate-dust Particulates Skin-disorders Skin-exposure Skin-irritants Skin-sensitivity Statistical-analysis Toxic-effects

  More +
• ISSN:
  1096-6080
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Utah ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  114
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036667
• Citation:
  Toxicologist 2010 Mar; 114(1):396
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Titania (CAS RN 13463-67-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The Toxicologist. Society of Toxicology 49th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, March 7-11, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7c15c8555676f6640e8ed833c5d270c0ec21543f5dbed3c8d2765d851e14dd7a25b9ce194c8b4c4add2e360831f1f347fe5e7d5c4fce7d62a3517cb54da41e37
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187997/cdc_187997_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 727.66 KB ]