When considering the hazards of space exploration, moon dust might not top your list
But contact with lunar soil can wreak havoc on human health
To better understand the toxicological properties of the dust
researchers exposed neuronal and lung epithelial cell lines to samples of simulated lunar soil
The samples caused widespread cell death and DNA damage in both cell lines
Intriguingly, although the simulants generated free radicals
their presence wasn’t correlated to the damaging impact on the cells
leaving the precise mechanism of injury a mystery
While the properties of actual lunar soil may differ from those of the simulants
the work provides an important starting point
towards understanding the biological effects brought about by visiting the moon...
and maybe beyond
Caston et al. (2018) Assessing Toxicity and Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA Damage Caused by Exposure of Mammalian Cells to Lunar Regolith Simulants. GeoHealth