 is dirtier than the floor of the average UK or US home, a new study has revealed. Astronauts on the orbital post may be inhaling air with nanoplastics , particles restricted by the European Chemicals Agency and even known carcinogens. 3 British astronaut Tim Peake reading in the International Space Station Credit: ESA/NASA While the air is constantly recirculated and CO2 is removed, the structure is getting old and scientists are unsure to what degree the filtration system can remove certain chemicals. The ISS has been in Earth's orbit for 24 years, and is slated to be decommissioned by the end of the decade. Hundreds of astronauts have passed through the space hub in that time, bringing with them a host of personal items for their sometimes months-long stays. A successor, Starlab , is already being designed to replace it. But scientists behind the study - the first of its kind regarding the ISS - say it will help inform new designed for the next space station and future spacecraft. 'Our findings have implications for future space stations and habitats, where it may be possible to exclude many contaminant sources by careful material choices in the early stages of design and construction," co-author of the study professor Stuart Harrad, from the University of Birmingham, explained. 'While concentrations of organic contaminants discovered in dust from the ISS often exceeded median values found in homes and other indoor environments across the US and western Europe, levels of these compounds were generally within the range found on earth.' The so-called 'space dust' included polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), 'novel' brominated flame retardants (BFRs), organophosphate esters (OPEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and polychlor){kind=link}
THE air in International Space Station (ISS) is dirtier than the floor of the average UK or US home, a new study has revealed.
Astronauts on the orbital post may be inhaling air with nanoplastics, particles restricted by the European Chemicals Agency and even known carcinogens.
While the air is constantly recirculated and CO2 is removed, the structure is getting old and scientists are unsure to what degree the filtration system can remove certain chemicals.
The ISS has been in Earth’s orbit for 24 years, and is slated to be decommissioned by the end of the decade.
Hundreds of astronauts have passed through the space hub in that time, bringing with them a host of personal items for their sometimes months-long stays.