Mystery Contaminant

["Joel Antkowiak" <joel_antkowiak@pobox.tbe.com>]

                      Mystery Contaminant                          8/7/96


Date: 8/7/96 12:48 PM
To: Joel Antkowiak
From: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
One of my clients has recently had a contamination problem in their waste
room. The contaminant, which is apparantly labeled with C-14, also appears to
have an affinity for painted surfaces. The pattern of contamination is all
walls, drums, chemical storage cabinet, the compactor, and the ceiling, except
one ceiling tile that was replaced several months ago and never painted. In
addition to the lone ceiling tile, other objects in the room that were not
affected were several 5 gallon plastic carboys, the floor and the steel door,
as well as the make-up air vent in the room (all unpainted). Although the
contamination occurred recently, less than one month ago, it seemed to
penetrate the paint, i.e., it is no longer removable by non-destructive means.

Any thoughts on what may have caused this, as well as cleaning suggestions,
would be appreciated. 

Please reply to: joel_antkowiak@pobox.tbe.com

Thank you.