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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This project was supported by Grant No. NAG 9-895 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACECRAFT WATER EXPOSURE GUIDELINES
DONALD E. GARDNER (Chair), Consultant,
Raleigh, North Carolina
JOSEPH V. BRADY,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
GARY P. CARLSON,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
ELAINE M. FAUSTMAN,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
CHARLES E. FEIGLEY,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
MARY ESTHER GAULDEN,
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
WILLIAM E. HALPERIN,
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio
RALPH L. KODELL,
National Center for Toxicological Research, Jefferson, Arkansas
ROBERT SNYDER,
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, New Jersey
BERNARD M. WAGNER, Consultant,
Short Hills, New Jersey
GAROLD S. YOST,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Staff
SUSAN N.J. PANG, Project Director
LEE R. PAULSON, Project Director (through 10/99)
KATE KELLY, Technical Editor
KATHRINE IVERSON, Information Specialist
LUCY V. FUSCO, Project Assistant
EMILY L. SMAIL, Project Assistant
Sponsor
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
BAILUS WALKER, JR. (Chair),
Howard University Medical Center and American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C.
MELVIN E. ANDERSEN,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
GERMAINE M. BUCK,
University at Buffalo, State of New York
ROBERT E. FORSTER II,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
PAUL M.D. FOSTER,
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
WILLIAM E. HALPERIN,
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio
CHARLES H. HOBBS,
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
SAMUEL KACEW,
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
NANCY KERKVLIET,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
FLORENCE K. KINOSHITA,
Hercules Incorporated, Wilmington, Delaware
MICHAEL J. KOSNETT,
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
MORTON LIPPMANN,
New York University School of Medicine, Tuxedo, New York
ERNEST E. MCCONNELL,
ToxPath, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina
THOMAS E. MCKONE,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, California
HARIHARA MEHENDALE,
University of Louisiana, Monroe, Louisiana
DAVID H. MOORE,
Battelle Memorial Institute, Bel Air, Maryland
GÜNTER OBERDÖRSTER,
University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
JOHN L. O'DONOGHUE,
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York
GEORGE M. RUSCH,
AlliedSignal, Inc., Morristown, New Jersey
MARY E. VORE,
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
ANNETTA P. WATSON,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
LAUREN ZEISE,
California Environmental Protection Agency, Oakland, California
Staff
KULBIR S. BAKSHI, Program Director
SUSAN N.J. PANG, Program Officer
ABIGAIL E. STACK, Program Officer
RUTH E. CROSSGROVE, Publications Manager
KATHRINE J. IVERSON, Manager,
Toxicology Information Center
EMILY L. SMAIL, Project Assistant
BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
GORDON ORIANS (Chair),
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
DONALD MATTISON (Vice Chair),
March of Dimes, White Plains, New York
DAVID ALLEN,
University of Texas, Austin, Texas
INGRID C. BURKE,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
WILLIAM L. CHAMEIDES,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
JOHN DOULL,
The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
CHRISTOPHER B. FIELD,
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Stanford, California
JOHN GERHART,
University of California, Berkeley, California
J. PAUL GILMAN,
Celera Genomics, Rockville, Maryland
BRUCE D. HAMMOCK,
University of California, Davis, California
MARK HARWELL,
University of Miami, Miami, Florida
ROGENE HENDERSON,
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
CAROL HENRY,
American Chemistry Council, Arlington, Virginia
BARBARA HULKA,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
JAMES F. KITCHELL,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
DANIEL KREWSKI,
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
JAMES A. MACMAHON,
Utah State University, Logan, Utah
MARIO J. MOLINA,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
CHARLES O'MELIA,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
WILLEM F. PASSCHIER,
Health Council of the Netherlands
KIRK SMITH,
University of California, Berkeley, California
MARGARET STRAND,
Oppenheimer Wolff Donnelly & Bayh, LLP, Washington, D.C.
TERRY F. YOSIE,
American Chemistry Council, Arlington, Virginia
Senior Staff
JAMES J. REISA, Director
DAVID J. POLICANSKY, Associate Director and Senior Program Director for Applied Ecology
CAROL A. MACZKA, Senior Program Director for Toxicology and Risk Assessment
RAYMOND A. WASSEL, Senior Program Director for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
KULBIR BAKSHI, Program Director for the Committee on Toxicology
LEE R. PAULSON, Program Director for Resource Management
ROBERTA M. WEDGE, Program Director for Risk Analysis
COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES
MICHAEL T. CLEGG (Chair),
University of California, Riverside, California
PAUL BERG (Vice Chair),
Stanford University, Stanford, California
FREDERICK R. ANDERSON,
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Washington, D.C.
JOANNA BURGER,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey
JAMES E. CLEAVER,
University of California, San Francisco, California
DAVID EISENBERG,
University of California, Los Angeles, California
JOHN EMMERSON,
Fishers, Indiana
NEAL FIRST,
University of isconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
DAVID J. GALAS,
Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science, Claremont, California
DAVID V. GOEDDEL,
Tularik, Inc., South San Francisco, California
ARTURO GOMEZ-POMPA,
University of California, Riverside, California
COREY S. GOODMAN,
University of California, Berkeley, California
JON W. GORDON,
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York
DAVID G. HOEL,
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
BARBARA S. HULKA,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
CYNTHIA KENYON,
University of California, San Francisco, California
BRUCE R. LEVIN,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
DAVID LIVINGSTON,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
DONALD R. MATTISON,
March of Dimes, White Plains, New York
ELLIOT M. MEYEROWITZ,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
ROBERT T. PAINE,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
RONALD R. SEDEROFF,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
ROBERT R. SOKAL,
State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York
CHARLES F. STEVENS,
The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California
SHIRLEY M. TILGHMAN,
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
RAYMOND L. WHITE,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Staff
WARREN R. MUIR, Executive Director
JACQUELINE K. PRINCE, Financial Officer
BARBARA B. SMITH, Administrative Associate
LAURA T. HOLLIDAY, Senior Program Assistant
OTHER REPORTS OF THE BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury (2000)
Strengthening Science at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Research-Management and Peer- Review Practices (2000)
Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment (2000)
Modeling Mobile-Source Emissions (2000)
Toxicological Risks of Selected Flame-Retardant Chemicals (2000)
Copper in Drinking Water (2000)
Ecological Indicators for the Nation (2000)
Waste Incineration and Public Health (1999)
Hormonally Active Agents in the Environment (1999)
Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter: I. Immediate Priorities and a Long-Range Research Portfolio (1998); II. Evaluating Research Progress and Updating the Portfolio (1999)
Ozone-Forming Potential of Reformulated Gasoline (1999)
Risk-Based Waste Classification in California (1999)
Arsenic in Drinking Water (1999)
Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area (1998)
The National Research Council's Committee on Toxicology: The First 50 Years (1997)
Toxicologic Assessment of the Army's Zinc Cadmium Sulfide Dispersion Tests (1997)
Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens in the Human Diet (1996)
Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest (1996)
Science and the Endangered Species Act (1995)
Wetlands: Characteristics and Boundaries (1995)
Biologic Markers (5 reports, 1989-1995)
Review of EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (3 reports, 1994-1995)
Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment (1994)
Ranking Hazardous Waste Sites for Remedial Action (1994)
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children (1993)
Issues in Risk Assessment (1993)
Setting Priorities for Land Conservation (1993)
Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas (1993)
Dolphins and the Tuna Industry (1992)
Hazardous Materials on the Public Lands (1992)
Science and the National Parks (1992)
Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Health Hazards (1991)
Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program, Volumes I-IV (1991-1993)
Human Exposure Assessment for Airborne Pollutants (1991)
Monitoring Human Tissues for Toxic Substances (1991)
Rethinking the Ozone Problem in Urban and Regional Air Pollution (1991)
Decline of the Sea Turtles (1990)
Copies of these reports may be ordered from the National Academy Press
(800) 624-6242
(202) 334-3313
OTHER REPORTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
Review of the U.S. Navy's Exposure Standard for Manufactured Vitreous Fibers (2000)
Submarine Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Hydrofluorocarbons: HFC-236fa, HFC-23, and HFC-404a (2000)
Review of the U.S. Army's Health Risk Assessments for Oral Exposure to Six Chemical-Warfare Agents (1999)
Toxicity of Military Smokes and Obscurants, Volume 1 (1997), Volume 2 (1999), Volume 3 (1999)
Assessment of Exposure-Response Functions for Rocket-Emission Toxicants (1998)
Review of a Screening Level Risk Assessment for the Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Japan (Letter Report) (1998)
Toxicity of Alternatives to Chlorofluorocarbons: HFC-134a and HCFC-123 (1996)
Permissible Exposure Levels for Selected Military Fuel Vapors (1996)
Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations for Selected Airborne Contaminants, Volume 1 (1994), Volume 2 (1996), Volume 3 (1996), Volume 4 (2000)
Preface
THE National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) maintains an active interest in the environmental conditions associated with living and working in spacecraft and identifying hazards that might adversely affect the health and well-being of crew members. Despite major engineering advances in controlling the spacecraft environment, some water and air contamination appears to be inevitable. Several hundred chemical species are likely to be found in the closed environment of the spacecraft, and as the frequency, complexity, and duration of human space flight increase, identifying and understanding significant health hazards will become more complicated and more critical for the success of the missions.
NASA asked the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Toxicology to develop guidelines, similar to those developed by the NRC in 1992 for airborne substances, for examining the likelihood of adverse effects from water contaminants on the health and performance of spacecraft crews. In this report, the Subcommittee on Spacecraft Water Exposure Guidelines (SWEGs) examines what is known about water contaminants in spacecraft, the adequacy of current risk assessment methods, and the toxicologic issues of greatest concern. SWEGs are to be established for exposures of 1,10,100, and 1000 days. The 1-day SWEG is a concentration of a substance in water that is judged to be acceptable for the performance of specific tasks during
rare emergency conditions lasting for periods up to 24 hours. The 1-day SWEG is intended to prevent irreversible harm and degradation in crew performance. Temporary discomfort is permissible as long as there is no effect on judgment, performance, or ability to respond to an emergency. Longer-term SWEGs are intended to prevent adverse health effects (either immediate or delayed) and degradation in crew performance that could result from continuous exposure in closed spacecraft for as long as 1000 days.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their technical expertise and diverse perspectives, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC Report Review Committee for reviewing NRC and Institute of Medicine reports. The purposes of that independent review were to provide candid and critical comments to assist the NRC in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals, who are neither officials nor employees of the NRC, for their participation in the review of this report: Joseph Borzelleca, Virginia Commonwealth University; Dean Carter, University of Arizona; John Doull, The University of Kansas Medical Center; Rogene Henderson, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute; Robert Kavlock, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Robert MacPhail, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The individuals listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions. It must be emphasized, however, that responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring subcommittee and the NRC.
Special thanks are extended to Dr. Raghupathy Ramanathan of Wyle Laboratories, who provided the critical background information in Chapter 2. Thanks are also extended to Drs. Hector Garcia, Chiu-Wing Lam (both from Wyle Laboratories), and John T. James (Johnson Space Center), who provided technical information for the report. We gratefully acknowledge the staff at the Water and Food Analysis Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center for their support in providing water analysis data and help with matters concerning Mir water systems. In particular, we wish to thank Mr. Dick Sauer, Dr. John Schultz, Dr. Paul Mudgett, and Mr. John Straub.
We are grateful for the assistance of the NRC staff in preparing the report. Staff members who contributed to this effort are Carol Maczka, senior program director for Toxicology and Risk Assessment; Kulbir Bakshi, program director for the Committee on Toxicology; and Kate Kelly, editor. We especially wish to recognize the contributions of project directors Lee Paulson and Susan Pang and project assistants Lucy Fusco and Emily Smail.
Finally, we would like to thank all the members of the subcommittee for their dedicated efforts throughout the development of this report.
Donald E. Gardner, Ph.D.
Chair, Subcommittee on Spacecraft
Water Exposure Guidelines
Bailus Walker Jr., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Chair, Committee on Toxicology
Abbreviations
ADI
acceptable daily intake
BBDR
biologically based dose-response
BMD
benchmark dose
CFU
colony-forming unit
CHeCS
crew health-care system
CWC
contingency water container (U.S.)
ECLSS
environmental control life support system
EPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EVA
extravehicular activity
HX
heat exchanger
IML
International Microgravity Laboratory
ISS
International Space Station
JSC
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
LMLSTP
Lunar Mars Life Support Test Project
LOAEL
lowest-observed-adverse-effect level
LSM
life support module (Russian segment of ISS)
MCL
maximum contaminant level
MCV
microbial check valve
MOA
mode of action
MSFC
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
NASA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NOAEL
no-observed-adverse-effect level
NRC
National Research Council
PBPK
physiologically based pharmacokinetics
PCWQM
process-control water-quality monitor
PERP
permitted exposure/rodent potency
QD
quick disconnect
SL-J
Spacelab-J
SLS-1
Spacelab Life Sciences-Mission 1
SM
service module (Russian segment of ISS)
SMAC
spacecraft maximum allowable concentration
SRV-K
Russian condensate recovery system
SRV-U
Russian urine recovery assembly
SSP
Space Station Program
STS
space transportation system (refers to shuttle mission)
SWEG
spacecraft water exposure guideline
TIC
total inorganic carbon
TIMES
thermally integrated membrane evaporation system
TOC
total organic carbon
TOCA
total organic carbon analyzer
USML
U.S. Microgravity Laboratory
VCD
vapor compression distillation
VRA
volatile removal assembly
WRS
water recovery system
WRT
Water Recovery Test