Misuse of a Medical Radioisotope: 125I Labeled Playing Cards in Germany, a Case Study

Abstract

The security of medical radioactive sources, both open and sealed, is an important consideration for reducing the risk of an intentional or inadvertent additional radiation dose to the public, according to the principle of keeping any additional radiation dose as low as reasonably achievable. The detection and following radiological investigation of the misuse of iodine-125 (125I), a medically used radionuclide, in Germany is described in detail with the aim of sharing experience and raising awareness. The misuse of 125I shows that the security of 125I is not guaranteed completely at the present time.

Development of Small HN Linked Radionuclide Iodine-125 for Nanocarrier Image Tracing in Mouse Model

“…Iodine-125 ( 125 I) is a low-power radionuclide that is widely used in biomedicine, due to its simple decay process, safe tissue penetration distance, less damage to surrounding healthy tissues, and long action time. 1,2 Its uses include cholangiocarcinoma treatment, 3 prostate cancer treatment, 4 non-small cell cancer treatment, 5 thyroid tumor tissue examination, 6 bone densitometry, 7 and isotope imaging in the clinic. [8][9][10] The main mechanism of action for the use of 125 I is to place it at the tumor site and kill tumor cells directly using gamma rays (0.03548 MeV) released from its decay process, thereby partially or completely eliminating the lesions and avoiding the recurrence or distant metastasis.…”