Unsealed radioactive materials in medical practice in New Zealand

Information has been collected on numbers and types of radionuclide procedures in medical practice in New Zealand over a three-month period in the latter half of 1973. For in vivo procedures data on the age and sex of patients and the activities of radioactive materials administered were also collected. The changes in numbers of such procedures carried out over a seven-year period are discussed. A genetic radiation dose to the population of 0.24 mrad per person is derived for the year 1973, about 0.20 mrad of this dose arising from diagnostic procedures and 64 percent being attributable to brain imaging. Whereas formerly genetic doses have been estimated from data on activities of 131I and 32P used, this is no longer possible.