Measurement of 131I activity in thyroid of nuclear medical staff and internal dose assessment in a Polish nuclear medical hospital

Abstract

This paper presents results of 131I thyroid activity measurements in 30 members of the nuclear medicine personnel of the Department of Endocrinology and Nuclear Medicine Holy Cross Cancer Centre in Kielce, Poland. A whole-body spectrometer equipped with two semiconductor gamma radiation detectors served as the basic research instrument. In ten out of 30 examined staff members, the determined 131I activity was found to be above the detection limit (DL = 5 Bq of 131I in the thyroid). The measured activities ranged from (5 ± 2) Bq to (217 ± 56) Bq. The highest activities in thyroids were detected for technical and cleaning personnel, whereas the lowest values were recorded for medical doctors. Having measured the activities, an attempt has been made to estimate the corresponding annual effective doses, which were found to range from 0.02 to 0.8 mSv. The highest annual equivalent doses have been found for thyroid, ranging from 0.4 to 15.4 mSv, detected for a cleaner and a technician, respectively. The maximum estimated effective dose corresponds to 32% of the annual background dose in Poland, and to circa 4% of the annual limit for the effective dose due to occupational exposure of 20 mSv per year, which is in compliance with the value recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.

Measurement of 131I activity in air indoor Polish nuclear medical hospital as a tool for an internal dose assessment

“…The thyroid activities calculated in the present work based on the 131 I air activity concentration and a biokinetic model were also compared to those measured in a previous study (Brudecki et al 2017a ). The results of this comparison are shown in Table 5 .…”

“…The SAAM II software (Epsilon Group, VA, USA) was used for the calculations. This overall methodology has already been successfully applied previously (Brudecki et al 2014 , 2017a , b ; Li et al 2008 ). The radiation-weighted S w coefficients were calculated separately for males and females, with the SEECAL program (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA).…”

“…Estimated internal annual effective doses ranged from 0.02 to 0.8 mSv. The corresponding annual thyroid equivalent doses ranged from 0.4 to 15.5 mSv (Brudecki et al 2017a ).…”

Self-adhesion X-ray Shielding Composite Material of EPDM Rubber with Barite: Mechanical Properties

“…Secondly, organizational actions: time reduction of possible stay of the person in the zone of possible defeat, decrease dosage rate of radiation. Thirdly, constructive actions: creation of filters (boards, walls, partitions, casings) between a source and a person [2,3].…”

Medical activated charcoal tablets as a cheap tool for passive monitoring of gaseous 131I activity in air of nuclear medicine departments

“…131 I has been detected in medical staff using whole body spectrometer (WBS) and HPGe detectors. Activities of 131 I measured in WBS were in the range from 5 ± 2 to 217 ± 56 Bq corresponding annual thyroid equivalent dose ranging from 0.4 mSv (for a female nurse) to 15.5 mSv (for a male technician) [ 4 ]. Due to these results, measurements of airborne 131 I activity were performed at the Department of Endocrynology and Nuclear Medicine Holycross Cancer Centre (E&M HCC Kielce, Poland) where the previously measured medical staff is worked.…”