(2.3.1-007) Dust Removal and Cleansing

An Orbital Habitat will undoubtedly generate a good deal of particulate matter 'dust'. Some of this will be organic matter shed by the living things in the biome itself. Other sources will include particles shed by the equipment and infrastructure within the Orbital Habitat.

An analysis of the dust collected from the air filters the International Space Station^[1] indicated that many airborne concentrations of some potentially harmful chemical compounds exceed those found in floor dust from many American homes although the levels of these compounds were generally within the range found on earth..

In addition it was found that high levels of ionizing radiation can accelerate ageing of materials, including breakdown of plastic goods into micro and nanoplastics that become airborne in the microgravity environment. This breakdown and subsequent chemical change can produce new and novel compounds not found in the original products.

References:

1. University of Birmingham, Chemical contamination on International Space Station is out of this world , accessed 2024-05-18