Comparative Toxicity of Lunar, Martian Dust Simulants, and Urban Dust in Human Skin Fibroblast Cells

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has plans to further their manned space exploration to Mars and possibly beyond. The potential toxicity of lunar and Martian dusts to astronauts is a big concern. Primary routes of exposure for astronauts are dermal contact, ocular contact, and inhalation. In this study, we focused on dermal contact exposure using human skin cells to investigate the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of two fractions of lunar dust simulant (JSC-1A-vf, JSC-1A-f) and a Mars dust simulant (Mars-1A), and compared them to urban dust (urban particulate matter), as urban dust toxicity is better understood and thus, provides a good comparison. Our data show the three simulants and urban dust are cytotoxic to human skin cells. The JSC-1A-vf lunar dust simulant is more cytotoxic than the JSC-1A-f and urban dust. Urban dust cytotoxicity is similar to Mars dust simulant after 120 h exposure. All three dust simulants and urban dust show similar low genotoxicity effects. Our data suggest extraterrestrial dust can damage skin cells and may have the potential to be harmful to humans.