Effect of Volatile Ethanol Exposure on the Growth and Development of Three Radish Cultivars

NASA has intensively studied the use of plants to regenerate the atmosphere, purify water, and produce food within a bioregenerative life support system for many years. A unique aspect of growing plants in a controlled environment is chronic exposure to low levels of atmospheric volatiles. Alcohols are one of the most common classes of atmospheric contaminants currently detected onboard the International Space Station. A series of experiments were performed in specialized volatile organic compound analysis (VOCA) chambers in order to determine sensitivity of three Raphanus sativus L. to atmospheric exposures of ethanol. Three radish cultivars, Sora, Cherry Belle, and Cherry Bomb Hybrid II, were grown under continuous exposure to 0, 50, 100, 300, 500, or 1000 ppm ethanol for 21 days in the VOCA chambers with environmental setpoints of 23 °C, 75% relative humidity, and 18/6 photoperiod under T8 triphosphor fluorescent lamps at 300 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 PAR and 1200 μmol·mol -1 CO 2 . These concentrations corresponded to 5%, 10%, 30%, 50%, and 100% of the human exposure limits established by NASA and OSHA. Exposures to less than 10% of the legal exposure limit resulted in a 30% reduction in total biomass, 12% reduction in leaf area, and a 6% reduction in harvest index. Extreme stunting, chlorosis, and plant death were observed at only 50% of the exposure limit. All three cultivars were sensitive to ethanol exposure, with Cherry Bomb Hybrid II being slightly less sensitive than either Sora or Cherry Belle.