Medically used radionuclides (131I, 99mTc) in the urban sewage system: the case of the Daejeon metropolitan city, Korea

Abstract

In order to assess the behaviour of radioactivity (specifically (131)I concentrations in wastewater and sludge at sewage treatment plant) discharged into municipal sewage by therapy patients receiving treatment, the use of radiopharmaceuticals in four hospitals was quantitatively evaluated and the patients were classified by their residence. (131)I concentrations were estimated using a simple assumption model for radioiodine treatments of 94 patients, and measured by HPGe in inflow points, respectively. A good agreement was found between (131)I concentrations estimated with the model and those measured in the inflow points at the sewage treatment plant.

Discharges of nuclear medicine radioisotopes in Spanish hospitals

“…In some cases the values found were higher than those measured by other authors (Erlandsson and Mattsson, 1978;Helmut et al, 2009;Chang et al, 2011), which may be due to the choice of sample collection point. In our case, this was the outflow from hospitals before liquid discharges were mixed with urban effluent, which can explain the higher activity concentrations found for 99m Tc, despite its short half-life (6 h).…”

“…Moreover, 131 I has been frequently detected in municipal sludge, sewage and wastewater effluent, and even in the water resulting from treatment plants (Moss, 1973;Sodd et al, 1975;Prichard et al, 1981;Miller et al, 1996;Dalmasso et al, 1997;Martin and Fenner, 1997;Nakamura et al, 2005;Punt et al, 2007;Zhao et al, 2007;Smith et al, 2008;Helmut et al, 2009;Jiménez et al, 2011;Chang et al, 2011).…”

Iodine-131 in Sewage Sludge from a Small Water Pollution Control Plant Serving a Thyroid Cancer Treatment Facility

“…Several studies have measured 131 I in sewage sludge (Erlandsson and Mattsson 1978;Prichard et al 1981;Erlandsson et al 1983Erlandsson et al , 1989Barci-Funel et al 1993;Stetar et al 1993;Larsen et al 1995;Brennan 1997;Dalmasso et al 1997;Martin and Fenner 1997;Puhakainen 1998;ISCORS 2003;Punt et al 2007;Carolan et al 2011;Chang et al 2011;Jiménez et al 2011). Fewer values of 131 I in sewage effluent have been reported (Sodd et al 1975;Erlandsson et al 1989;Puhakainen 1998;Smith et al 2008;Fischer et al 2009;Kleinschmidt 2009;Carolan et al 2011;Chang et al 2011;Rose 2011;Rose et al 2012).…”

“…Several studies have measured 131 I in sewage sludge (Erlandsson and Mattsson 1978;Prichard et al 1981;Erlandsson et al 1983Erlandsson et al , 1989Barci-Funel et al 1993;Stetar et al 1993;Larsen et al 1995;Brennan 1997;Dalmasso et al 1997;Martin and Fenner 1997;Puhakainen 1998;ISCORS 2003;Punt et al 2007;Carolan et al 2011;Chang et al 2011;Jiménez et al 2011). Fewer values of 131 I in sewage effluent have been reported (Sodd et al 1975;Erlandsson et al 1989;Puhakainen 1998;Smith et al 2008;Fischer et al 2009;Kleinschmidt 2009;Carolan et al 2011;Chang et al 2011;Rose 2011;Rose et al 2012). The results of several investigations indicate that most of the 131 I entering WPCPs is discharged in the effluent (Erlandsson and Mattsson 1978;Prichard et al 1981;Erlandsson et al 1983Erlandsson et al , 1989Barci-Funel et al 1993;Stetar et al 1993;Dalmasso et al 1997;Martin and Fenner 1997;Puhakainen 1998).…”

Medically-derived 131 I in municipal sewage effluent

“…In the United States, patient excreta are exempt from sewer discharge regulations and are therefore released directly into sewer systems (Martin and Fenner, 1997). Iodine-131 has been measured in aquatic environments receiving sewage effluent discharges, yet few published data exist for the radioisotope in sewage effluent (Chang et al, 2011;Erlandsson et al, 1989;Fischer et al, 2009;Kleinschmidt, 2009;Puhakainen, 1998;Rose, 2003;Smith et al, 2008;Sodd et al, 1975); most work has focused on sewage sludge. The results of several investigations indicate greater than 75% of 131 I entering WPCPs leaves in the effluent (Barci-Funel et al, 1993;Dalmasso et al, 1997;Erlandsson et al, 1989Erlandsson et al, , 1983Erlandsson and Mattsson, 1978;Martin and Fenner, 1997;Prichard et al, 1981;Puhakainen, 1998;Stetar et al, 1993).…”