Hand exposure in nuclear medicine workers.

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Radiological Protection
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Nuclear medicine utilizes radioactive elements for diagnostics and therapeutics.
• Workers in nuclear medicine are exposed to gamma radiation, leading to whole-body doses.
• Hand exposure can be significant due to manual handling of radioisotopes, despite shielding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure the equivalent radiation dose to the hands of nuclear medicine workers.
• To assess the occupational radiation risk in laboratories using technetium and iodine radioisotopes.
• To identify instances where hand doses may exceed safety limits.

Main Methods:

• Study conducted in five nuclear medicine laboratories using 99mTc and 131I.
• Equivalents doses to hands of 60 workers (physicians, nurses, radiopharmacists, technicians) were measured.
• Dose measurements were taken at monthly intervals.

Main Results:

• Significant radiation doses to the hands were observed in some workers.
• Monthly hand doses in certain cases surpassed 50 mSv.
• This suggests potential annual hand doses could exceed 500 mSv.

Conclusions:

• The risk of radiation dose to the hands of nuclear medicine workers can be substantial.
• Current shielding practices may not fully mitigate hand exposure.
• Further attention to hand dosimetry and protective measures is warranted.