FYI.....
Jaro
Nuclear Canada
Canadian Nuclear Association Electronic Newsletter
VOLUME III DECEMBER 19, 2002 NUMBER 47
U.N. NUCLEAR AGENCY AIDING TISSUE TRANSPLANTS
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) maintains 66 tissue banks
around the world that use radiation to sterilize tissues such as skin, tendons, cartilage,
corneas and heart valves used in transplants and grafts. The U.N. agency has produced
more than 200,000 grafts over three decades, saving developing countries millions of
dollars in tissue import costs.
The IAEA is working to develop standards for sterilization using radiaiton that
would enable countries to import grafts without concern that the tissue might be
contaminated. Such a move would go a long way to easing a global shortage of tissue for
grafts, according to Jan Koller, secretary of the European Tissue Banking Association.
The United States may switch to radiation sterilization of tissue grafts because of
concerns that its current methods have failed to prevent at least 57 cases of disease
transmission in the past 18 months, according to Dr. Sam Doppelt, President of the
American Association of Tissue Banking. These methods currently are limited to
screening and blood tests. AP 12/04/02