Re: Related issue - patient

["Mike Bohan" <mike.bohan@yale.edu>]

        Reply to:   RE>Related issue - patient generated wastes

Hi RadSafers:

I would recommend that the state rad. control programs purchase portable MCA
setups with a large portable shielded NaI detector (3" x 3").  They could then
acquire a spectrum and compare it against known radiopharmaceutical spectrums to
prevent having to wade through waste to recover Tc-99m contaminated diapers,
etc.  

They could also easily calibrate the system to give them approximate activities
by using appropriate distance and self-shielding correction factors.  This
should allow them to quickly determine the isotope and activities involved to
give appropriate guidance to the incinerator operators.  

It would allow also for the quick identification of real problems like Ir-192,
Cs-137, and Ra-226 sources which occasionally make their way into the solid
waste stream which would be a serious problem for these facilities!  

And, finally it would be a handy device to have on hand for other emergency
response purposes like transport accidents and off site releases!

In fact, I've recently put such a system into my capital budget request so I
don't have to wade through my waste anymore!  Just think of the potential OSHA
violations your exposed to while wading through a hospital's solid compacted
waste!  Been there, done that more than once already!  =8^)
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Michael J. Bohan, RSO   |  e-mail: mike.bohan@yale.edu
Yale-New Haven Hospital |    Tele: (203) 785-2950
Radiological Physics    |     FAX: (203) 737-4252
20 York St. - WWW 204   |    As usual, everything I say may be plausibly
New Haven, CT    06504  |    denied at my employer's convenience ...
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
 
--------------------------------------
Date: 23/05/97 1:14 PM
To: Mike Bohan
From: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
Dear RADSAFERS:


In a related issue, one of the RSO's mentioned above has notified our
state agency about this new release criteria (we are not an Agreement
State).  Currently, the municipal incinerator in Indianapolis monitors all
waste coming into their facility for radioactivity.  About every hospital in
Indianapolis has had hospital waste rejected from the municipal
incinerator due to detected radioactivity.  In those cases, the source has
always been traced to contamination from in-patients undergoing
diagnostic procedures and not from inappropriate disposal of radioactive
material.  The state agency is alway notified when this occurs.

The state agency has also been notified several times about municipal
waste from residential areas that has set off these radiation detectors. 
In those cases, the waste hauler has to deal with the problem, usually
with assistance from the state (they end up digging through the waste to
find the source - what fun!!).  With this change in NRC regulations,
patients will probably be going home with higher levels of activity and
common sense makes us think that this will increase the frequency of
activity detected in residential waste.  While it's not our problem, we
wouldn't wish scavenging through municipal waste on our worst enemy.

Any ideas on how to deal with this problem?

Regards,
Mack Richard, M.S.


Mack L. Richard, M.S., R.S.O.
mrichard@wpo.iupui.edu
Phone:  (317) 274-0330    FAX:  (317) 274-2332