Assessment of the nuclear medicine personnel occupational exposure to radioiodine

Abstract

DENM) who are occupationally exposed to 131 I. Materials and Methods: The exposure was monitored by whole-body and finger ring dosimeters. The thyroid iodine intake was measured by a whole-body spectrometer equipped with two semiconductor gamma radiation detectors. A cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay and the premature chromosome condensation technique were used to assess the aberration score. Cytogenetic analyses were carried out on a group of 29 workers and were compared to 32 controls (healthy donors), matched for gender and age. Results: On average, the exposed group showed a significantly higher frequency of genetic damage and a higher proliferation index compared to the control group. Smoking status, age and duration of exposure influenced the observed effects in both groups. No differences in measured biomarkers were observed after stratification of the exposed group into two subgroups based on the measured 131 I activity below and above 6 Bq. Conclusion:The findings suggest that radiation protection principles based on whole-body and finger ring dosimetry, supported by activity measurements with a whole-body spectrometer, may be insufficient to monitor the absorbed dose estimation of the nuclear medicine staff who are occupationally exposed to 131 I. Furthermore, their future health risks are influenced by confounders. Direct assessments comparing physical and biological dose estimations on the larger group are needed to accurately monitor occupational radiation exposure.

Evaluation of micronuclei and antioxidant status in hospital radiation workers occupationally exposed to low-dose ionizing radiation

“…4 A). As the years of working with IR increased, so did the frequency of MN, with this result concurring with many studies [ 36 , 37 , 47 – 49 , 51 , 52 , 54 – 57 ]. Some studies have reported an increase in the frequency of MN as a function of age in medical exposure [ 37 , 51 ].…”

“…As the years of working with IR increased, so did the frequency of MN, with this result concurring with many studies [ 36 , 37 , 47 – 49 , 51 , 52 , 54 – 57 ]. Some studies have reported an increase in the frequency of MN as a function of age in medical exposure [ 37 , 51 ]. However, in this study, no relationship was observed between age and MN frequency, which is consistent with the reports of some studies [ 45 , 52 ].…”

Evaluation of internal exposure of nuclear medicine staff working with radioiodine in Poland

“…Relatively low activities are admin-that there are not apparent differences in terms of internal radiation hazard due to inhalation of radioiodine I-131 in these categories of medical units. Testing of iodine content in thyroid workers in a Polish nuclear medical hospital was also performed by other authors [14,15]. The results indicate the occurrence of analogous ranges of measured activity in the thyroid gland.…”

Assessment of extremity exposure to technologists working manually with 99mTc-labelled radiopharmaceuticals and with an automatic injection system for 18F-FDG

“…The most exposed area of NM workers is the hands due to the fact that the unsealed source of radiation is relatively close to them at the time of labelling, dispensing and injecting radiopharmaceuticals to patients [2][3][4]. To evaluate extremity doses, passive ring dosimeters are usually used in hospitals [1][2][3][4][5][6], however, published researches [1,[7][8][9] indicate that the dose distribution over the hand is inhomogeneous and the maximum dose is received by fingertips, which means that the dose results obtained with a ring dosimeter in the typical monitoring position (base of the middle finger of the dominant hand) can be much lower.…”