Mars Dust Poses Serious Health Hazards

Martian dust is toxic but
will be very difficult to
prevent getting into the body

Martian dust could pose health risks to future astronauts (Univ of Colorado, 31 March 2025).  In preparation for human exploration of Mars, a team of researchers including some from U Colorado catalogued the dangers in Martian dust. Dust is ubiquitous all over Mars, as the global dust storms visible from Earth and spacecraft attest. Dust was known to be a big irritant to Apollo astronauts, but it could be even more problematic for long stays on Mars. Here’s a summary of health risks in the dust:

Mars portrait (May 2002, NASA) Scars of large extinct volcanoes are visible.

• Enhaled silicates can cause silicosis, scarring lung tissue. There is no known cure.
• Beryllium and arsenic are additional chemical elements posing health risks.
• Perchlorates are a “particularly nasty” class of compounds ubiquitous on Mars.
• Even a few milligrams of inhaled perhclorates can cause severe anemia.
• Mars dust can lead to loss of thyroid function.
• Dust particles smaller than 3 micrometers are too small for the lungs to expel.
• Once in the lungs, dust with its toxins can get into the blood stream.
• Regular dust storms (as portrayed in the movie The Martian) will exacerbate the dust problems.

Their research paper was published in GeoHealth. One problem reminiscent of the “moon dust problem” of the early space age was mentioned in the press release:

“We think there could be 10 meters of dust sitting on top of the bigger volcanoes,” said Hynek, a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences. “If you tried to land a spacecraft there, you’re going to just sink into the dust.”

Not mentioned in the press release but mentioned in the research paper is the problem of static electricity. Mars is so dry, with frequent dust devils crossing the surface, it is likely that the dust itself will be energized with static electricity, posing risks to electronics as well as to humans in their spacesuits or living quarters. As seen on the moon, the dust could move rapidly through the atmosphere and cling to everything.

While dust on Mars is not as sharp and abrasive as lunar dust due to increased erosion on the planet’s surface, it shares many properties with lunar dust and still poses a risk to astronauts. Estimates have shown that dust on Mars is electrostatic, magnetic, abrasive, highly oxidative, chemically reactive, irregularly shaped with rounded edges, and has a diameter from ∼2 μm up to ∼8 µm during dust storms (Figure 2) with an average diameter of ∼3 μm.

The researchers feel the dust hazards are solvable, but emphasize that “prevention is better than cure.” For the reasons listed above, it looks like prevention will pose a huge challenge to engineers.

So even if astronauts survive being exposed to radiation on the long flight to Mars, and survive the landing as well, their worries are just beginning. Elon Musk is a visionary with dreams of colonizing Mars, but he will have little control over the environment once humans get there. He could be sending people to their deaths, where their bodies will suffer cancer, anemia, thyroid damage and silicosis from the dust but their brains, damaged from radiation-induced dementia, will not be able to take the steps necessary to treat themselves.

If nothing else, these studies underscore the highly special conditions we enjoy on Earth. Humans are resourceful and problem-solving intellects, but perhaps need to take Psalm 115:16 seriously: “The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.”