Re: The Goiana accident is not as Tim describes. Many were to blame.

[Tim <tstead@ntirs.org>]

Thanks for the real story.  I thought my memory was a

little sketchy...but then again, I heard about this

incident a year or two ago from someone that heard it

from someone...



Tim



--- John Cameron <jrcamero@facstaff.wisc.edu> wrote:

> >Tim wrote "I'm going on memory here...about the

> Gioania incident.

> >As I recall, there was a container of Cs-137 powder

> (which I believe 

> >is blue) left in an abandoned warehouse. Some

> children playing 

> >nearby found the container and

> >opened it (it was not an accidental "spill").  They

> thought the 

> >powder looked neat and played games of "paint my

> face, I'll paint 

> >yours."They got the stuff all over their hands,

> face, 

> >mouth,etc...you name it. As I understood, after

> several of the 

> >children who

> played with the Cs got sick, health officials

> tracked it down. I 

> believe half the town was "contaminated."  Some of

> the children did 

> later die from the exposure."

> 

> Very little of the above is correct but one or more

> children did eat 

> the Cs-137 and four people died from over exposure

> to radiation. .

> Here is a bried summary of the facts.

> A radiotherapy group in Goiania had a Cs-137

> irradiator which was not 

> useful for therapy. They stopped using it and left

> it an unused room 

> and forgot about it. It is not clear that they had a

> physicist with 

> them.  They did not reply to requests from the

> Brazilian authorities 

> to report on the status of the source every three

> years. The 

> authorities did not investigate the situation.

> 	The building containing the Cs source was partially

> 

> demolished so that anyone could enter it. A junk

> dealer discovered 

> the Cs irradiator but it was too heavy to remove but

> it was easy to 

> remove the bolts holding the source- which was still

> very heavy but 

> moveable. They  took it to their shop.  They figured

> the lead would 

> be worth something. I believe the source was sold to

> another junk 

> dealer who in attempting to dismantle it ruptured

> the source. In the 

> dim light of the shop, the very radioactive source

> glowed and was 

> lovely to behold. People rubbed it on their skin and

> at least one 

> child ate some of it.

> 	The family  of  the junk dealer began to get

> radiation 

> sickness. The mother put the remainder of the source

> in a sack and 

> took it to a doctor saying this stuff is killing my

> family. The 

> doctor (who was a veterinarian) called the fire

> dept. to dispose of 

> it.  Someone  connected with the episode happened to

> know a medical 

> physicist visiting in Goiania, whom they contacted.

> He borrowed a 

> radiation meter (probably a GM counter) and when he

> turned it on it 

> appeared to be defective (jammed?). He went back to

> get a functioning 

> meter and turned it on well before he approached the

> location and 

> found very high readings.

> 	He convinced the fireman not to dump the sack in

> the river as 

> they planned but to vacate people from the vicinity

> and the vicinity 

> of the junk shop where it was ruptured.  He must

> have been 

> convincing. Within a short time the radiation

> authorities were on the 

> job and the story made the world news.   People from

> Goiania were 

> shunned as contaminated. They couldn't get a hotel

> room in other 

> cities!

> 	There is an IAEA report and also a book written by

> a newsman 

> which is where I learned that the "doctor" was a

> veterinarian, rather 

> than an MD. The IAEA report only refers to the

> person as a doctor.

> 	The most knowledgeable person about the Goiania

> accident is 

> Jose' Rozental, (joseroze@netvision.net.il ) who is

> now retired and 

> lives in Israel.  He was in charge of the cleanup. 

> He has much 

> information including PowerPoint files with photos. 

> Four people died 

> from the accident. A sad but trivial accident in any

> large country. A 

> drunk driver kills more nearly every day! Brazil

> spent much money on 

> the clean up.  The money is needed much more to

> educate Brazilians.

> 	In September 1996 in Costa Rica 15 cancer patients

> died from 

> over doses from a Co-60 mis-calibrated source.  The

> guilty person 

> (i.e., the oncologist who hired an incompetent

> person to do his 

> physics) left the country I believe.  Accidents will

> happen.

> 	On the other hand about 1,000 people a day die in

> the U.S. as 

> a result of smoking cigarettes and nobody much cares

> about it. Some 

> would rather worry about the risks of transporting

> radioactive waste! 

> Best wishes, John

> 

> -- 

> John R. Cameron (jrcamero@facstaff.wisc.edu)

> 2678 SW 14th Dr. Gainesville, FL 32608

> (352) 371-9865 Fax (352) 371-9866

> (winters until  about May  15)

> 

> PO Box 405, Lone Rock,WI 53556

> (608) 583-2160; Fax (608) 583-2269

> (summers: May 2002- September 2002)

>

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