Hospital waste monitoring

[Bill Stephany <BSTEPHAN@mail.mcg.edu>]

Radsafers,

Our nuclear medicine clinic uses a lot of Tc-99m (~150 Ci/year).  We have
just started monitoring all hospital waste using a NaI portal monitor.  Since
last Thursday, we've been getting about one alarm each day.  Since this
waste is not supposed to be radioactive, we're concerned.   We're
identifying the isotope, and holding it for decay.  In this respect there is no
problem.

Considering that patients are dosed with tens of millicuries, it's not
surprising that we see tenths of microcuries (1/10,000 of the initial dose)
showing up in room or linen non-rad waste streams.   I really need some
perspective on this situation.

Is the frequency of alarms we are experiencing usual?  The question I
have is how far should we go in attempts to assure all waste  can be
tracked back to someone, so we can identify the cause and "fix"  it.  How
diligently have other hospitals pursued identifying sources of this type of
rad waste?  

Thanks in advance for your response.

Bill Stephany
Assistant RSO
Medical College of Georgia
Augusta, GA 30912-7520
(706) 721-9832
fiss.bstephan@mail.mcg.edu