RE: Patient Excreta

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

> What is the potential for exposure to the patient and members of the public
> from this (and the "holdup tank") scenario vs. just dumping it in the sewer
> where it will decay, anyway, without causing more unnecessary exposure to
> anyone ? 

When in Graduate School, one my colleague's research was to 
study the release and effect of radioactive material into the sewer 
system in Dade County Florida (Greater Miami area), which 
included around 10 large medical facilities. The results were that 
there was very little dilution, with the release staying in a bolus (not 
as expected), the facility could be identified by the "fingerprint" and 
time of arrival at the sampling station. The dose from the release, if 
I remember correctly (and this was quite some time ago) was not 
insignificant. It was quite measurable.

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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