Beta radiation exposure of staff during and after therapies with 90Y-labelled substances

Radioimmunotherapies (RITs) and peptide receptor radiotherapies (PRRTs) with (90)Y-labelled compounds offer promising prospects for tumor treatment in nuclear medicine. However, when preparing and performing these therapies, which require manipulations of high activities of (90)Y (>1 GBq), technicians and physicians may receive high exposures, mainly to the skin of the hands. Even non-occupationally exposed persons, such as caregivers and family members, receive external exposures in the initial period after therapy, arising from the (90)Y in the patient. The local skin doses of the individual staff members, measured during RITs and PRRTs with thermoluminescence detectors fixed with tapes to the fingers, vary considerably. The exposure of staff can exceed the annual permissible dose limit of 500 mSv if radiation protection standards are low. Thus, adequate safety measures are needed. Measurements of the dose rate around patients, made using survey meters with sufficient response to beta particles, indicate that the exposure of caregivers and family members is considerably higher than previously assumed, and was dominated by primary beta radiation instead of bremsstrahlung. Nevertheless, under normal circumstances, the annual dose limits for the public (effective dose: 1 mSv, skin dose: 50 mSv) will be complied with.