Lead Acrylic Shielding

[ROBBARISH@aol.com]

There was a question concerning the safety of cutting lead acrylic shielding. 
Some years ago I studied the behavior of this material with respect to the 
release of aerosol lead particles when the plastic is burned. It is easy to 
ignite. Although the probability that a radiology viewing window would be 
involved in a fire was low, I was concerned that smaller "disposable" items 
were starting to appear; things like eyeglass lenses and syringe shields. 
There was a significantly great potential for these items to wind up in an 
incinerator. If you want to see the results in detail, they appeared in 
Health Physics. The reference is:

R.J. Barish. Evaluation of Lead Releases From the Burning of Lead Acrylic 
X-Ray Shielding. Health Physics 46, 464-466 (1984)

Briefly, I found that grams to kilograms of particulate lead in an aerosol 
form easily absorbed in the lung would come from this material when burned. 
The original post on this topic asked about the hazards of cutting the 
material. I don't know exactly how much aerosol lead would be released by the 
heat of a saw blade, but I suggest that appropriate containment and operator 
protection be employed. 

Robert Barish
robbarish@aol.com
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