Re: Sm-153

[Richard Smart <R.Smart@unsw.edu.au>]

The package insert for Quadramet, as it is sold in Australia, refers to the
presence of Eu-154, which has a half-life of 8.8 years.  It doesn't state
the maximum activity present, but does state that the maximum additional
effective dose to a 70 kg patient from this impurity would be 0.5 mSv/y.

Richard Smart


At 15:08 20/01/2000 -0700, Mary Ellen Jafari wrote:
>I have a client who uses Sm-153 Quadramet and cannot get the vials to
decay to background so that they can be disposed of. The half life of
Sm-153 is 46.3 hours so the vials should be ready to toss after 20 days,
but when they were surveyed 11 months after being placed into storage they
still produced an exposure rate considerably higher than background.
>
>This has happened with all of the Sm-153 vials, and not just one, and with
several survey meters.  Has anyone else heard of this?  Is it possibly a
case of long-lived contaminants?  And if so, what and how much?  I have
tried contacting DuPont and Berlex by phone and e-mail but have not gotten
any help yet.
>
>M.E. Jafari, M.S.,DABR
>Western Radiological Physics, Inc.
>westrad@cyberhighway.net
>
>
>*********** ************
>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Medphys at:
>http://sherouse.home.mindspring.com/MPFAQ/
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>
>
>
Richard Smart PhD
Principal Physicist and Radiation Safety Officer
Nuclear Medicine Department
St. George Hospital
Kogarah
NSW, 2217, Australia
Tel: (61 2) 9350 3129
Fax: (61 2) 9350 3991
email: r.smart@unsw.edu.au
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