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Tiangong-1 is packed with rocket fuel hydrazine which could also cause nerve and liver damage after long-term exposure.

Most of the satellite is expected to burn up when it re-enters the atmosphere in March but up to 40% could survive as debris.

Aerospace Corp which provides advice and technical guidance on space missions has raised fears about exposure to the lethal chemical, reported Mail Online.

A statement said: "Potentially, there may be a highly toxic and corrosive substance called hydrazine on board the spacecraft that could survive re-entry.

(Image: GETTY)

"For your safety, do not touch any debris you may find on the ground nor inhale vapours it may emit."

Hydrazine is a colourless, oily liquid which is highly reactive and used for industrial, agricultural and military purposes.

The space station, which translates as Heavenly Palace 1, was launched in 2011 to serve as a manned laboratory but mission control lost contact with it last year.

China was initially tight-lipped on Tiangong-1 before releasing a statement in September which predicted it would crash into Earth in the latter part of 2017.

(Image: GETTY)

But now experts have predicted a March 2018 uncontrolled entry is more likely and countries at risk include Spain, Turkey, India, Italy and parts of the US, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

EPA experts have said that they are “confident” debris will not land further north than 43°N or further south than 43°S.

But they stressed any countries between these latitudes could be hit by the craft’s junk.

Lottie Williams is the only person to have been hit by space debris – in Oklahoma in 1996 – but she was unharmed.

The largest object to renter Earth’s atmosphere was the Mir space station in 2001 which weighed 120,000kg compared to the 8,500kg Tiangong.