[ RadSafe ] They walk among us

Thu Oct 21 15:20:59 CDT 2010

I agree with Jim, et al.  I have done my share of the landfill responses, and they are not fun.  We also had an issue a few years ago with the local waste water treatment plant in Grand Junction due to the inventory of I-131 building up in the system due to the amount of thyroid ablations that were being conducted.  By holding the sludge up another day or two, they were able to get past the landfill alarms.

Some landfills will not play nice and let you dispose of the medical waste because their permits do not allow radioactive waste. 
We have measured exposure rates in the mR/h range from some of this waste.  It should also be noted that often times the family is willing to take some dose in order to care for their loved ones.  It's not about one kiss, repeated contact is not out of the question if the family does not follow the instructions, which must be assumed happens.  Keep the baby away from grandpa for 2 weeks, good luck!

PVE

Phil Egidi
EPS III
Radiation Management Unit
Radiation Control Program
Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
CDPHE

222 S. 6th St. Rm. 232
Grand Junction, CO 81501
(970) 209-2885 (cell)
(970) 248-7162 GJ Office
(970) 248-7198 fax

alternate numbers:
(303) 692-3447 Denver office
(303) 759-5355 (Denver fax)

>>> On 10/21/2010 at 2:10 PM, in message <4CC065FC.1E3F.005A.0 at dnr.state.ga.us>, "Jim Hardeman" <Jim.Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us> wrote:
Howard / Shailendra --

I don't know anything about any particular "studies", but our past experience in dealing with household items, trash, and yes -- diapers -- discarded by I-131 therapy patients (and showing up a day or two later at a landfill) indicates that everything such a patient touches within the first few days is likely to be contaminated. In most of what we've seen, it appears that the material is related to sputum or perspiration -- although occasionally we would get the "loaded Depends". As I indicated earlier, our current practice is NOT to try to identify the specific item if we're confident that we're dealing with a medical , radionuclide.

It's not uncommon to us to see radiation levels of several hundred uR/hr on the outside of a metal trash container -- and although the geometry is uncertain, I would conclude that in those cases we're looking at activities of at least 0.5 mCi I-131. Given that this level of activity may be transferred due to simple contact, I don't find the possibility of an uptake of 1 microcurie to be the least bit implausible.

My $0.02 worth ...

Jim Hardeman, Manager
Environmental Radiation Program
Environmental Protection Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
4220 International Parkway, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30354
(404) 362-2675
Fax: (404) 362-2653
Personal fax: (404) 521-4485
E-mail: Jim.Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us 

>>> "Shukla, Shailendra" <Sal.Shukla at va.gov> 10/21/2010 14:48 >>>
What is the likelihood of a child getting an internal dose of 1
microcurie of I-131 by kissing a thyroid therapy patient (few days after
the procedure)?

Shailendra Shukla, Ph.D
Medical Physicist & Radiation Safety Officer
(352) 376-1611 x6514
Fax: 352-271-4504

>>> Howard Long <howard.long at comcast.net> 10/21/2010 14:39 >>>
Evidence, Otto?
"Children can be exposed by skin contact, kissing, or while using a contaminated toilet. Intake of only 1 microcurie of I-131 by a child can result in a thyroid dose of 13 REM"

1, Where is a study that I is transmitted by such contacts, (as for colds)?
2. Chernobyl children's thyroid cancers were found NOT increased, when the severity of the cancers was factored in (I apologize for having lost that recent reference).
3. Hormesis effect, less risk of cancer rather than more, occurs up to about 20 REM in the bomb survivor studies, although children were  not in sig. numbers.

"State of Fear" (Crichton's book) , false alarm that does great harm, is in I-131, radiation use as well as in carbon burning

Howard Long 

On Oct 21, 2010, at 10:37 AM, "Otto G. Raabe" <ograabe at ucdavis.edu> wrote:

> Children can be exposed by skin contact, kissing, or while using a contaminated toilet. Intake of only 1 microcurie of I-131 by a child can result in a thyroid dose of 13 REM
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