Demir Abdurrahman Engin, Sevinc Elif Nur, Ulubay Mustafa
University of Health Sciences, Institute of Defensive Health Sciences, Department of Aerospace Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Gulhane School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ankara, Turkey.
Life Sci Space Res (Amst). 2025 Feb;44:154-162. doi: 10.1016/j.lssr.2024.10.008. Epub 2024 Oct 28.
Space missions have revealed certain disincentive factors of this unique environment, such as microgravity, cosmic radiation, etc., as the aerospace industry has made substantial progress in exploring deep space and its impacts on human body. Galactic cosmic radiation (GCR), a form of ionizing radiation, is one of those environmental factors that has potential health implications and, as a result, may limit the duration - and possibly the occurrence - of deep-space missions. High doses of cosmic radiation exposure during spaceflight, particularly during exploration class missions, may have teratogenic effects on a developing fetus, if an unintended pregnancy occurs shortly before or during the flight. This study aimed to discuss whether the cumulative dosage for a pregnant woman during a probable manned mission to Mars may exceed the terrestrial teratogenic radiation limit. A variety of studies, technical documents, and publications that provided flight duration data and the absorbed cosmic radiation dosage equivalents between Earth and Mars were analyzed. A literature-based hypothetical model of a pregnancy simulation over a 6-month spaceflight was also designed to estimate the cumulative absorbed GCR dose. The estimated dose rates ranged from 90 to 324 mSv. Assuming that a pregnant crew member is exposed to this dosage range, the total teratogenic dose equivalent to the embryo/fetus appear to be significantly higher than that of the National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP)'s and United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC)'s recommendations, which state a maximum radiation dose of 5 mSv for the duration of the pregnancy, and thus such an exceeded dose may likely result in teratogenesis. Current protective strategies may not be sufficient to protect the human genome from the detrimental effects of cosmic radiation, and they need be improved for long-term interplanetary travels during human colonization of Mars.
随着航天工业在探索深空及其对人体影响方面取得了重大进展，太空任务揭示了这种独特环境的某些不利因素，如微重力、宇宙辐射等。银河宇宙辐射（GCR）是一种电离辐射，是那些对健康有潜在影响的环境因素之一，因此可能会限制深空任务的持续时间——甚至可能限制其发生。如果在航天飞行前不久或飞行期间意外怀孕，太空飞行期间，尤其是探索级任务期间的高剂量宇宙辐射暴露，可能会对发育中的胎儿产生致畸作用。本研究旨在探讨在可能的载人火星任务期间，孕妇的累积剂量是否可能超过地球致畸辐射限值。分析了各种提供飞行持续时间数据以及地球和火星之间吸收的宇宙辐射剂量当量的研究、技术文件和出版物。还设计了一个基于文献的6个月太空飞行妊娠模拟假设模型，以估计累积吸收的GCR剂量。估计的剂量率范围为90至324毫西弗。假设一名怀孕的机组人员暴露在这个剂量范围内，胚胎/胎儿的总致畸剂量当量似乎明显高于美国国家辐射防护委员会（NCRP）和美国核管理委员会（USNRC）的建议值，后者规定孕期最大辐射剂量为5毫西弗，因此这种超过限值的剂量可能会导致致畸。目前的防护策略可能不足以保护人类基因组免受宇宙辐射的有害影响，在人类殖民火星的长期星际旅行中，这些策略需要改进。
