Re: I-131 Air Sampling -Reply

[Wes Van Pelt <vanpelt@ios.com>]

Mike McNaughton wrote:
> 
> >Silver zeolite is the medium of choice for iodine sampling primarily
> >because of its low affinity for noble gases; however, activated charcoal
> >should do nicely.  HEPA filtration does not "see" iodine.  HEPA filtration is
> >suitable for particulate radiation, not for gases and vapors.
> 
> This is something I have often wondered about.  Implicit in the above
> statement is the assumption that we are talking about iodine vapor.  In the
> real world, does radioiodine react to form a variety of chemical compounds
> and attach to dust particles, etc?
> 
> Stay safe, mike (mcnaught@LANL.GOV)

Mike and Radsafers,

I set up a stack air sampling program for I-125 for a client a few years 
ago.  The process was manufacturing scale radioiodinations.

We sampled with a particulate filter in front of a charcoal tube (later 
charcoal "hockey puck" canisters).  My recollection is that about 5% of 
the sampled I-125 activity was particulate, and 95% vapor.

Cheers,
Wes Van Pelt
vanpelt@ios.com