> 1. For one there’s the perchlorates. Basically the dust is poison.
Add water: perchlorate dissolves readily in water, so by bathing the dust in water, you remove the perchlorate from the dust and transfer it to waste water. You can then process the waste water further to remove the perchlorate from it and recycle it. (Assume this is happening inside a pressurised habitat/greenhouse/airlock where water can be liquid.)
Another option is heating it, which decomposes the perchlorate, liberating oxygen
There are also microorganisms which consume perchlorate
Heating perchlorate also liberates chlorine and other chlorine compounds. That doesn't sound great. Also water isn't exactly easy to come by on Mars. I doubt there will be a whole lot of bathing going on.
> Heating perchlorate also liberates chlorine and other chlorine compounds. That doesn't sound great.
I think the main thing it produces other than oxygen is HCl. Filter the produced gas through water, the water will absorb the HCl and start to turn into hydrochloric acid. Then we just need to add a base such as NaOH to neutralise the acid. (Not sure what bases are readily available on Mars but I’m sure people will be able to come up with something.)
> Also water isn't exactly easy to come by on Mars. I doubt there will be a whole lot of bathing going on.
There is evidence that Mars contains substantial quantities of subterranean water ice, at varying depths and ease of access. SpaceX’s plan for fuelling Starship for return to Earth is to manufacture CH4 using atmospheric CO2 and mined H2O. If they manage to mine enough H2O to produce the fuel to refuel a Starship, they’ll have enough H2O to fill swimming pools for the crew to swim in - and to rinse perchlorate out of the soil.
Add water: perchlorate dissolves readily in water, so by bathing the dust in water, you remove the perchlorate from the dust and transfer it to waste water. You can then process the waste water further to remove the perchlorate from it and recycle it. (Assume this is happening inside a pressurised habitat/greenhouse/airlock where water can be liquid.)
Another option is heating it, which decomposes the perchlorate, liberating oxygen
There are also microorganisms which consume perchlorate