Re: Contamination from I-131 in Perspiration

[mem6@juno.com (Milton E McLain)]

On Tue, 5 Aug 97 23:49:31 -0500 "J. Andrew Tompkins"
<JATALBQ@ix.netcom.com> writes:

>The residual urine should have been the primary contributor since
>elemental iodine is released from most acidic aqueous solutions, which
>is why many radiochemical facilities keep their hot drain system sumps
>on the alkaline side of the pH scale. 
>
>It would be interesting to know what was the actual fraction from each
>pathway. 

I agree - additional studies would be interesting.  We were aware that
the urine-soaked litter was a likely source of airborne (elemental)
iodine activity due to oxidation of iodide to iodine by air (oxygen).  In
fact, we made one "quick and dirty" attempt to retard such oxidation by
spraying the litter lightly with a solution of sodium sulfite.  This
compound is a mild reducing agent  capable of changing volatile iodine
back to non-volatile iodide.  Results of this test were inconclusive.

Milton McLain
mem6@juno.com