I-131 and Customs

[maay100@bgumail.bgu.ac.il (Quastel)]

        With regard to the transported I-131 and the cat, the matter is
related to the travel of people treated with gamma emitters. Therefore, I'd
like to ask the following of the radsafers:

1.      What are the legal restrictions on the physical movements within
the community of persons who have been administered a dose of 4 mCi of
I-131 for, say, a whole body scan, or for treatment of hyperthyroidism? Do
not these requirements vary from country to country? In particular, what
are the international rules on the travel by air of such patients?

2.      What would be the cumulative dose to a passenger sitting next to an
unshielded source of 4 mCi of I-131 during a relatively long flight,lets
say for about 10 hours?



                                        Mike Quastel
                                        Nuclear Medicine
                                        Soroka Medical Center
                                        POB 151 Beer Sheva
                                        Israel 84101


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