Re: Release of I-131 Patients

[coogen_michael@hq2ccgw.hq.dla.mil]

Andrew:  The dose to patients vary depending upon the application for the 
disease that they are being treated.  The dose administered can be for either 
diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.  The range can be from 50 microcuries to 150
millicuries.  It is standard that if a patient is given 29.9 millicuries of 
I-1131, they are ususally released upon completion of the nuclear medical study 
with specific instruction.  If the dose is greater than 29.9 millicuries, then 
the patient is admitted to the hospital and monitored until the dose rate at 1 
meter is less than 5 millirem per hour or radioactivity in the patient is less 
than 30 millicuries, which equals to about 5-6 millirem per hour.  The hospital 
is not required to monitor patient's bbody flluids (urine or stool).  Patient is
placed in a room specifically designated to housed 1-131 therapies. Hope this 
give you a general answer to your question...mike coogen sends


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Release of I-131 Patients
Author:  radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at hq2ccgw
Date:    7/12/95 3:53 AM


Hi everyone

I'm a radiochemist at a nuclear power plant in South Africa, and am 
involved in our environmental monitoring programme.

This topic of releasing I-131 patients interests me as last year on 
two occasions we detected significant levels of I-131 in the sludge 
from the sewage treatment plant a few kilometres away.  As it was 
very unlikely, for various reasons, to have originated from our 
nuclear plant, we investigated other potential sources of I-131.  
With the help of the government Dep. of Health, two patients were 
traced, who live in the nearby village, who had received I-131 about 
a week and a half before each of the incidents.  The levels in the 
sludge were about 1500 Bq/kg!  In both cases, the succeeding samples 
had reduced I-131 activity corresponding very well to I-131's 
half-life.

As I am not a radiologist, I would like to know a bit more about what 
sort of doses patients typically receive, and how soon they are 
released from hospital.  (The information we have indicated that they 
received approximately 220MBq.)

Regards

Andrew Welsh
Koeberg Nuclear Power Station
Cape Town
South Africa