Dose-Effects Models for Space Radiobiology: An Overview on Dose-Effect Relationships.

Lidia Strigari,Silvia Strolin,Alessandro Bartoloni,Alessio Giuseppe Morganti

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.733337

Abstract

Space radiobiology is an interdisciplinary science that examines the biological effects of ionizing radiation on humans involved in aerospace missions. The dose-effect models are one of the relevant topics of space radiobiology. Their knowledge is crucial for optimizing radioprotection strategies (e.g., spaceship and lunar space station-shielding and lunar/Mars village design), the risk assessment of the health hazard related to human space exploration, and reducing damages induced to astronauts from galactic cosmic radiation. Dose-effect relationships describe the observed damages to normal tissues or cancer induction during and after space flights. They are developed for the various dose ranges and radiation qualities characterizing the actual and the forecast space missions [International Space Station (ISS) and solar system exploration]. Based on a Pubmed search including 53 papers reporting the collected dose-effect relationships after space missions or in ground simulations, 7 significant dose-effect relationships (e.g., eye flashes, cataract, central nervous systems, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chromosomal aberrations, and biomarkers) have been identified. For each considered effect, the absorbed dose thresholds and the uncertainties/limitations of the developed relationships are summarized and discussed. The current knowledge on this topic can benefit from further in vitro and in vivo radiobiological studies, an accurate characterization of the quality of space radiation, and the numerous experimental dose-effects data derived from the experience in the clinical use of ionizing radiation for diagnostic or treatments with doses similar to those foreseen for the future space missions. The growing number of pooled studies could improve the prediction ability of dose-effect relationships for space exposure and reduce their uncertainty level. Novel research in the field is of paramount importance to reduce damages to astronauts from cosmic radiation before Beyond Low Earth Orbit exploration in the next future. The study aims at providing an overview of the published dose-effect relationships and illustrates novel perspectives to inspire future research.

Highlights

Space radiobiology (SPRB) is a fascinating field that has fostered a growing interest in the recent years, thanks to the increased technological capability to travel and operate in space and the consequent renewed interest from the national space agencies to plan exploratory and colonization space missions.The space radiation environment is a complex mixture of radiation species dominated by highly penetrating charged particles from different sources (Figure 1)
54 were original papers reporting/proposing radiobiology or dose-effects models, while 8 were reviews or relevant reports
The identified models based on available data from spaceflight missions or ground/simulation data have been described in Table 1 and more in detail in the subsequent paragraphs

Summary

Introduction

Space radiobiology (SPRB) is a fascinating field that has fostered a growing interest in the recent years, thanks to the increased technological capability to travel and operate in space and the consequent renewed interest from the national space agencies to plan exploratory and colonization space missions.The space radiation environment is a complex mixture of radiation species dominated by highly penetrating charged particles from different sources (Figure 1). The presence of shielding on the space stations or spacecraft modifies the incident spectrum and related exposure due to (secondary) particles production resulting from the interaction (spallation) of the space radiation particles with such structures. Such particles can penetrate several hundreds of centimeters of materials, such as aluminum or tissue/water and fragment before stopping, producing lower Z secondary particles through nuclear interactions. Such characteristics confer a higher penetration range than the primary particles [2]

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