The Research of Aerosol and Microscope Fungi Accumulation Dynamics Inside the Air of a Hermetic Inhabited Facility During the 4-Month Isolation Experiment SIRIUS-19

According to the terms of the 4-month SIRIUS-19 experiment, reproducing the main time characteristics of a real space flight to the Moon, six crew members were isolated in a terrestrial technical complex. During the experiment continuous (with an interval of 15 min) monitoring of the number concentration of aerosol particles in the air environment of a hermetic inhabited facility was worked out by means of the airborne particles counter Handheld 3016. Also periodically (six times during experiment) the number of viable propagules and the species composition of microscopic fungi specific pattern were evaluated by seeding. The aerosol monitoring data adequately reflected the activity of the crew members. The analysis of particle concentrations in various size ranges revealed three types of events that potentially appear to be an unfavorable situation from the point of view of the safety and health of the crew. The results obtained during simultaneous measurements of aerosol particles and micromycete spores concentration were compared. The regularities of changes in the neutral particles and spores concentrations as well as their relation to the crew activities have been revealed. The possibility of using an aerosol particle counter inside the spacecraft as an indicator of the microbiological situation, taking into account the background concentration of aerosols, has been analyzed. The general trend of fungal spores accumulation in the air environment of the surveyed premises has been revealed from 2–5 CFU/m 3 at the beginning up to 287 ± 36 CFU/m 3 closer to the end of the isolation experiment, still it did not exceed the sanitary norm recommended by the WHO.