[ RadSafe ] Demo to show exposure vs. contamination
Louis N. Molino, Sr.
LNMolino at aol.com
Thu Aug 28 10:45:32 CDT 2008
We used that one 20 plus years ago now in the US it is not PC. They won't get it Azerbaijan.
LNM from Baku, Azerbaijan
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
-----Original Message-----
From: grahnk at comcast.net
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:51:50
To: Hansen, Richard<HansenRG at nv.doe.gov>; <radsafe at radlab.nl>; <LNMolino at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Demo to show exposure vs. contamination
I observed a training class given by someone else earlier this week, and I think I've now found one of the best analogies yet, that almost every one can relate to. Although crude, it sticks in peoples minds because they likely already have personal experience with the concept.
The speaker asked who had a dog at some time in their life, either as a child, or as an adult, or whether they knew someone who did, and whether they knew about Dog Doo. Virtually everyone in the room raised their hand.
Some don't smell much at all until you get really close (alpha, beta) versus the smell from others goes farther in air (gamma)
When you step out of your house and into your back yard and you can smell it. You've been exposed.
As you walk closer, the smell gets stronger. As you get closer (distance), your exposure goes up.
If you have to clean it up, you do it as quickly as possible to minimize your exposure (time).
If you go back inside, you no longer smell it (shielding).
If you don't notice it right away, and you step in it, you've been contaminated.
If you don't notice that you stepped in it, you can inadvertently spread contamination to places you don't want it.
When you try and clean your shoe off, if your technique is good, the shoe gets decontaminated.
If you have bad technique, you may cross contaminate other parts of your clothing or the area you are working on the shoe.
The concepts of exposure versus contamination, and time, distance, and shielding seemed to stick well with the audience. I'll use it in the future.
Kelly Grahn
Illinois Emergency Management, Nuclear Safety
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Hansen, Richard" <HansenRG at nv.doe.gov>
> Louis,
>
>
>
> Here is a simple, visual demonstration you can use with your HazMat
> students.
>
>
>
> I have found that many of our students (adult emergency responders) have
> some difficulty with the concept of radiation exposure vs.
> contamination.
>
> We have developed a simple but effective demonstration using a chemical
> glow stick. We use this demo with thousands of students (HazMat
> Technicians, Fire Fighters, Law Enforcement Officers, Emergency Medical
> Services, and other emergency responders) every year, and the feedback
> from the students and instructors has shown this to be a big help. This
> demo does not address neutron activation and other methods of creating
> radioactive material because those topics tend to confuse the students
> ever more at this stage of learning.
>
>
>
> Demonstration using a chemical light stick or flashlight.
>
> A chemical light stick is preferred, but you can present this
> demonstration by using a flashlight. The ultra-high intensity chemical
> light sticks work best (brighter), but standard chemical light sticks
> work fine.
>
>
>
> This demonstration explains radiation exposure (irradiation) vs.
> contamination and radioactive material particles vs. radiation. Some
> students may think that exposure to radiation will contaminate people or
> objects. Many students also get confused and initially think that
> radiation particles such as beta or alpha particles behave like
> particles of dust or droplets of liquids, leading them to mistakenly
> think that someone inhales alpha particles to get internal contamination
> or beta particles penetrate protective suites and contaminate the
> person's skin (wrong). Another mistaken idea is that you cannot be
> contaminated by gamma (gamma-emitters) because gamma rays are a wave,
> and therefore you do not need protective respirators for any
> gamma-emitting sources (wrong). These ideas come from their experiences
> with chemical hazards and not differentiating between radioactive
> material and radiation. This is one reason why we refer to "alpha
> radiation, beta radiation, gamma radiation, and neutron radiation"
> instead of "alpha particles, beta particles, gamma-rays, and neutron
> particles." For most emergency response tasks, the personnel deal with
> radioactive material and the radiation from it without needing to think
> about the particle or wave nature of radiation itself.
>
>
>
> For this demonstration, pretend the chemical light stick is a tiny dust
> speck of radioactive material, such as plutonium, and the light is the
> radiation. The glowing atoms inside the source simulate radioactive
> atoms. (Remind the students that the chemicals in a light stick are not
> radioactive.).
>
> 1. Turn down the lights in the room.
> 2. Hold the light stick in front of your left hand such that the
> students can see the light stick, your left hand, and illumination on
> your left hand.
> 3. Move the glow stick away from your left hand and set it on a
> table (out of the way).
> 4. Show that your hand does not glow or emit light when you take it
> away from the light source; therefore, your hand was exposed
> (irradiated), not contaminated. Radiation does not build up on a person
> or thing and make it radioactive. The actual radioactive atoms in the
> form of dust, gas, or liquid must move onto an object to contaminate it.
> When we talk about radioactive particles causing contamination, it means
> that small particles of dust or liquid containing radioactive atoms are
> present on an object.
> 5. Discuss (do not actually perform) that if you cut open the
> chemical light and spill the liquid on your left hand, your left hand
> will be contaminated. (The actual radiation-emitting atoms are now on
> your hand.) The radioactive material now on the skin of your left hand
> would also be exposing (irradiating) your hand.
> 6. Now, pick up the light stick again and show the light stick
> floating through air (supported by your hand). Say the light stick
> (particle of radioactive material) is floating in the wind.
> 7. Show the radiation (light) is emitted in all directions, even
> against the wind. The airborne radioactive material is blown by the
> wind, but radiation may expose (irradiate) individuals upwind. Standing
> upwind from radioactive materials does not protect you from radiation
> exposure.
> 8. Pretend to inhale the radioactive material speck (move light
> stick toward your mouth). Show that you don't inhale the radiation
> (light) itself. This is true if the radiation is alpha, beta, gamma, or
> neutron radiation. You cannot inhale alpha particles, but you can inhale
> particles of plutonium dust, and those plutonium particles emit alpha
> radiation (alpha particles).
>
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
>
>
> Another good training aid radiation exposure vs contamination is the
> short (2 minutes) video Radiation Principles from the Centers for
> Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Radiation Studies Branch (RSB)
>
> www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation
>
> rsb at cdc.gov
>
> 404.498.1800
>
> This video can also be watched or downloaded at the Radiation Event
> Medical Management (REMM) website
>
> http://www.remm.nlm.gov/radprinciplesvideo.htm
>
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Rick Hansen
>
> Senior Scientist
>
> Counter Terrorism Operations Support Program (CTOS)
>
> National Security Technologies, LLC, for the U.S. Dept of Energy
>
> hansenrg at nv.doe.gov
>
> www.nv.doe.gov/nationalsecurity/homelandsecurity/responder.htm
>
>
>
>
> Message: 4
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:08:56 +0000
>
> From: "Louis N. Molino, Sr."
>
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] "exposure" to radiation in other languages
>
> To: "Radsafe"
>
> Message-ID:
>
>
> <1303311079-1219748928-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-53424362
> 2- at bxe151.bisx.prod.on.blackberry>
>
>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain
>
>
>
> For the past 3 weeks I've been teaching HAZMAT here in Baku, Azerbaijan.
> The single most difficult point/concept I've dealt with has been the
> idea of exposure. Why did you all wait this long to have all this
> conversation!
>
>
>
> LNM from Baku, Azerbaijan
>
> Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
>
>
>
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