Re: Contaminated Hosp Pipes

["Dale E. Boyce" <dale@radpro.uchicago.edu>]

>
>This looks like another "non-problem" dose wise.  I cannot believe what
>I see on radsafe recently.  This plus the guard's clothing plus
>conatminated lead, none of which will produce ANY significant dose to
>anyone.  By-the-way, in none of these items has the dose to anyone been
>estimated. Why do we do something when the benefit from doing it is
>unmeasurable????? if any!!!!!  This is NOT radiation protection.  We
>aren't protecting anyone from anything.  Why do anything about the
>pipes, the guard's clothing or the lead products if there is no
>significant dose to anyone?  Sorry, but these three things, and, I
>suspect, many others, smack of irrational "radiation protection."  Now,
>who will speak first?  Al Tschaeche, CHP antatnsu@pacbell.net

Estimated skin doses from the aprons etc. found here would have run from
almost zero for those only worn sporadically to several hundred mrad/year a
few could have lead (no pun intended) to skin doses in excess of one rad/year.
Granted it wasn't going to kill anyone, but you wouldn't know it from
the reaction of personell who found that their aprons were hot.

We have a long way to go in education before I could get people to believe
that they should wear a lead apron to protect themselves from radiation
when it is emitting an easily measurable amount itself.  Better to leave
that battle until we get regulators away from trying to regulate 1 mrad
or even 10 mrad.

Dale