Re: radioactive jewelry

[William V Lipton <liptonw@dteenergy.com>]

I have done some research on this, since some of the radioactive jewelry turned
up in Chicago.  I had extensive discussions with the NY State Dept. of
Radiological Health (John Matuzek) and the Bureau of Radiological Health (Jenine
Lewis).  Although I doubt that either of these individuals is still available,
and the BRH no longer exists, you may try calling the NY State agency.

I believe that this has already been discussed on RADSAFE (Check the archives),
but it is a story worth repeating.

In a procedure that originated circa 1920, physicians used gold capsules filled
with radon gas for implant therapy.  The capsules were approximately 1mm
diameter and 3-4 mm long, and could be inserted up the urethra (Hold that
thought!).  It was a common practice to produce more seeds than were actually
needed, since they were cheap.  Since the seeds were only therapeutically useful
for 2 - 4 days, there were often excess seeds.   Although these seeds were no
longer useful, they were contaminated from the buildup of Pb-210.

Apparently, in the Buffalo, NY area, some individuals decided to salvage the
gold, which still had residual, long lived radon daughters.  The gold was used
primarily for jewelry repair, such as in sizing inserts for gold rings.  These
rings started being discovered in the 1960's, primarily in the Buffalo area.  A
few contaminated rings were found per thousand surveyed.  Dose rates ranged from
a few microrad/hr to 70-80 mrad/hr above background.

My group was contacted by a science reporter from a Chicago tv station.  He
brought some rings for survey.  None of them were contaminated, so this did not
become a broadcast story.

Some references are:

Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Vol 205 (July 29, 1968), page
318, "Contact Dermatitits from Gold Wedding Ring"

JAMA Vol 206 No. 9, November 25, 1968, Dermatitis Caused by a Radioactive Gold
Ring"

JAMA Vol. 206, No. 3 (1968), "Radioactive Gold Dermatitis"

JAMA Vol 205 (August 19, 1968), "Radioactive Jewelry as Cause of Cutaneous
Tumor"

Radiological Health Datqa and Reports, May 1969, page 185, "Radiological Health
Aspects of Spent Radon Seeds"

FDA Drug Bulletin, March 1981, "Skin Lesions and Radioactivity in Jewelry"

British Journal of Radiology, Volume 41, page 944, "The Application of
Phosphor-Teflon Thermoluminescent Dosimeters to the Measurement of the Dose-Rate