A group of elementary students in Canada made a life-and-death discovery about epipens that even NASA scientists were reportedly unaware of.
While studying the effects of cosmic radiation on epinephrine, students at St. Brother André School’s Program for Gifted Learners (PGL) in Ottawa found that when launched into space, the life-saving drug can become a toxic poison, according to a press release from the University of Ottawa published Feb. 16.
NASA selected the students to take part in the agency’s “Cubes In Space” program, a global STEM program geared towards students aged 11-18. (RELATED: 9-Year-Old Graduates High School)
Elementary schoolers prove EpiPens become toxic in space — something NASA never knew https://t.co/NvVv2GjCsk
— Live Science (@LiveScience) March 6, 2023
For their experiment, the students placed epinephrine samples into tiny cubes which were then launched to the far reaches of space via rocket or high-altitude balloon, LiveScience reported. Once back on Earth, the students tested the samples and found the drug had undergone a transformation. Eighty-seven percent of the epinephrine remained pure, while the other 13% had transformed into an “extremely poisonous benzoic acid derivatives,” essentially rendering the epipen unusable, the press release reads.
“The ‘after’ samples showed signs that the epinephrine reacted and decomposed,” according to Full Professor Paul Mayer of the Faculty of Science’s Department of Chemistry and Bimolecular Sciences.
“In fact, no epinephrine was found in the ‘after’ EpiPen solution samples. This result raises questions about the efficacy of an EpiPen for outer space applications and these questions are now starting to be addressed by the kids in the PGL program,” Mayer continued.
The students’ discovery of the real-world implications of cosmic radiation are reportedly helping researchers improve safety for space travel and astronauts, and the kids aren’t stopping there. The implications of their experiment have inspired the students in the program, aged 9 to 12 years, to design a capsule that would protect EpiPens from cosmic radiation while in space, according to the press release. The students will present the results of their research to NASA in June at the Langley Research Center, LiveScience reported.