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131I in blood samples: a danger for professionals? A problem for immunoassays?
Julie Vialard-Miguel1, Agnès Georges, Joaquim Mazère
1Nuclear Medicine Department, University Hospital of Bordeaux and University Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France. julie.miguel@chu-bordeaux.fr
Objective:
Our objective was to investigate the safety of radioactive blood samples from patients receiving 131I and whether the radioactivity affects the validity of assays.
Methods:
First, the activity of samples from patients given 131I was measured by 3 methods and compared with the upper threshold. Then, pilot sera were spiked with 131I, and possible interference was investigated using 2 immunoradiometric assays.
Results:
The activity of 13 of the 15 samples was below the European limit; the other 2 samples were from patients with reduced renal clearance rates. No differences in thyroglobulin level or thyroid-stimulating hormone level were found between sera that were spiked with 131I and sera that were not.
Conclusion:
These blood samples are safe because they contain negligible activity, and the use of radioimmunoassays or immunoradiometric assays on them produces reliable results.
