Re: I-131 question

["A. Hancock" <a.hancock@s1.cxwms.ac.uk>]

Kellyv@aol.com wrote:
> 
> We are currently renovating the nuclear medicine department.  The question
> concerning the necessity of the fume hood has surfaced.  Is it necessary to
> open I-131 CAPSULES under the hood?  


Amersham Int suggest that you should because of xenon-131m, which the 
iodine decays to being released into the packaging. However I'm not sure 
how many people bother about this. As far as the leakage of volatile 
I-131 is concerned this will be absorbed into a filter in the container, 
and therefore there should be no leakage of I-131 vapour.

I suggest you keep the fumehood, all good labs should have one (useful 
for temporary storage of volatile waste etc.) but I wouldn't worry to 
much about opening the capsule packaging in the hood. Remember that the 
incorporated filters can contain several uCi of I-131, and therefore be 
treated as radioactive waste. 

Regards, Andy H
a.hancock@cxwms.ac.uk