Risk of Toxic Substance Exposure
1 min readRisk of Toxic Substance Exposure ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti works inside the International Space Station’s Unity module reconfiguring components for the Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction investigation that explores fire growth and fire safety techniques in space.NASA Safe, breathable air is essential for crew health. Human spaceflight has involved toxicological events ranging in severity from trivial to life-threatening. Toxic exposure to chemical contaminants can originate from environmental system leaks, payload leaks, pyrolysis of polymeric materials, off-gassing of polymeric materials, use of utility compounds, propellant entry, microbial products, and human metabolism. To ensure crew safety, these risks are mitigated by preventive measures aimed at reducing or eliminating toxic exposure events as well as by monitoring and intervention post-release to minimize impacts to crew and reduce impacts to crew health and performance as well as long-term health consequences. Boeing team members don hazmat suits as they...