Numerical analysis of micro lunar dust deposition in the human nasal airway

The toxicity of Lunar dust (LD) is well-known to harm astronauts' health. However, the characteristics of micro-LD deposition in the human nasal airway remains unknown, and studying it through experiments is challenging. Therefore, this study employs numerical investigations to address this issue. Our findings reveal that LD larger than 4 µm primarily (>50%) deposit in the nasal cavity at an inspiration flow rate of Q= 40 L/min, while LD smaller than 8 µm are more likely (>50%) to enter the lung lobe at Q= 15 L/min. The right upper lung lobe receives a higher deposit fraction of LD compared to other lobes, reaching a maximum of 31%. The ratio of deposition fraction in the right lung and left lung can reach to 3.0. Accurately predicting LD deposition in the upper airway and entire lung is possible using mathematical expressions, but the prediction becomes more challenging for the bronchial airway and lung lobes. These results indicate that micro-LD deposition characteristics in the human nasal airway are influenced by LD size and astronauts' activity level. The deposition fractions can be used to assess the health risk from lunar dust to astronauts and provide insights into developing protective measures against LD exposure.