site.btaBiotechnologist Kiril Kandilarov: Antarctica's Extreme Environment Affects Human Health

The Antarctic environment is extreme and therefore has an impact on human health and stress levels, especially over longer periods, biotechnologist Kiril Kandilarov told BTA.

The Kandilarov Medical Diagnostic Laboratory has been cooperating with the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute (BAI) for ten years, and in 2026 the co-founder of the laboratory, Kiril Kandilarov, is part of the 34th Bulgarian Antarctic expedition. The laboratory and the BAI are jointly developing two projects.

"One project is related to caring for the health of the people on the expedition and conducting tests in advance, about a week before departure. We do a whole preventive package to see how people are doing," he explained. The second stage of the project is carried out on site at the Bulgarian Antarctic base and aboard the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii. "We conduct tests within seven days of their return," explained Kandilarov.

The second project, which is being carried out on site in Antarctica, has been in development for two to three years and involves stress testing. "In the stress tests, we were able to divide the group into three: one group is the logisticians, one group is those on the ship - the crew - and one group is the scientists. We are studying stress indicators such as cortisol and prolactin in them," he said.

"We also test cholesterol and glycated hemoglobin. And in fact, over the years that we have been doing this, we have seen that stress, especially among the ship's crew, is quite high. There are people whose indicators show a predisposition to diabetes or the development of new diseases." He explained that this allows measures to be taken to improve the health of these people. "[Stress levels] are related to how long people have been here, because it is precisely those who are under the most stress, the ship's crew and the logisticians, who have been here the longest. Scientists do not experience such stress because they are usually only here for ten to twenty days. Stress does not have such an impact on them," Kandilarov emphasized.

There are two main aspects that increase stress levels among participants in Antarctic expeditions: first, the harsh conditions, and second, the prolonged isolation. "Now, in the last few days we have been here, there has been a storm like never before. In addition, all the pipes have frozen and there is no water. This is stressful for both the base commander [Kamen Nedkov] and the others, because they still have to find a way to ensure the survival of the scientists at the base," Kandilarov explained.

The research conducted by Bulgarian Antarctic explorers will continue during future expeditions. For this purpose, a small laboratory has been set up at the base, whose equipment is supplemented every year so that the research can be expanded. The next improvement to the research package includes blood tests and biochemistry sampling.

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) departed for Antarctica from Varna (on the Black Sea) on November 7, 2025. After a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the ship arrived at the Argentine naval base in Mar del Plata on December 13.

BTA has had a national press club on board the ship since 2022 and another on Livingston Island since February 2024. BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said they exist thanks to the generous support of RSV 421 and Bulgaria’s St Kliment Ohridski Base, which provide the necessary facilities. These two press clubs are added to the news agency’s other 41 national press clubs (33 in Bulgaria, seven abroad in neighbouring countries and in nations with large Bulgarian communities, and one mobile National Book Press Club). 

The news items of BTA's special correspondents on RSV 421 and Antarctica are freely available in Bulgarian and English on the agency's website. They can be used free of charge by all media, with attribution to BTA. Valchev recalled that thanks to its correspondents, the news agency appears among the top results on Google when searching for the phrase “Antarctica correspondent”.