Re: Rad. induced heart attacks

[ehsnet!hps (HPS)]

Reply-to: Johnny.Brandon@p0.f13.n233.z1.fidonet.org (Johnny Brandon)
Fido-To: romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu!delphi.com!jmu

 r> > Yes. Even in the "university community"! 
 r> 
 r> :Unfortunately, Jim is right.  Recently a student in the nuclear 
 r> :engineering program here at Worcester Polytech. had told me of a 
 r> :humanities professor that lectured on the 10's of thousands of 
 r> deaths 
 r> :that resulted and continue to result throughout Ukraine and parts of 
 r> :Europe due to Chernobyl.  Efforts to explain the facts to this 

 r> Amazing, but its more amazing when it comes from the Physics Dept.
 
personally, i don't find it strange that such attitudes (concepts?) are 
found in a physics dept.... 
several years ago we had a spill of about 150 mCi of Fe-55 in a physics 
lab.  our office performed an extensive decon of the lab and it's 
contents (even the computer keyboard was crapped up).  with surprising 
(at the time i was surprised :-) frequency i would be asked by faculty 
members in adjacent labs if they were in danger from the gamma rays from 
Fe-55 (even after i assured them that those little photons could not 
travel more than a few centimeters in air).  one professor was worried 
that his lunch might be hazardous... he explained to me that he thought 
it might be possible for the gamma rays to cause free radicals in his 
sandwich!  (i refrained from suggesting that he keep his lunch in a lead 
box).   
 
j.brandon, safety officer
uiuc radiation safety office
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