Re: Ex UCI lab tech pleads "not guilty" to radioactive assau

["Frank E. Gallagher, III" <fegallag@uci.edu>]

At 01:27 PM 9/20/99 -0500, Sandy Pearle wrote:
>The last paragraph says:
>
>>Jensen said the potential exposure is limitless because Zuo went 
>home to her 2-year-old child and husband after sitting on the chair. 
>He said Zuo got a whole year's worth of exposure in just six hours.<
>
>Questions ... what was the exposure? A year's worth of what? DDE, SDE 
>.. what? QAny comments from our UCI HPs?

We estimated that she sat in the chair for about 4 hours, not 6 (she spent
some time in a separate computer room on the day of the exposure).  Our
dose estimate was 400 mrem SDE to her buttocks.  Jensen must have been
mixing up 360 mrem TEDE from natural background with the 400 mrem SDE.
Jensen should compare her dose with the occupational limit for SDE, 50 rem,
since she was an employee authorized to work with 32P.
>
>``She has tested negative at this point as far as any exposure to the 
>radiation. However, we can't rule out inhalation or ingestion of the 
>substance,'' Jensen said.  

Yes, we can rule it out as her urine sample taken a few days after she sat
in the chair, was background.  We think the 32P soaked through the
loose-knit chair fabric and settled deep into the cushion material, which
was why no contamination was found on any clothing.

Jensen will be lucky to prove, or accept a plea bargain for, simple
assault.  The 400 mrem SDE from 32P does not indicate a deadly weapon was
used (at least IMHO).  Even if she sat in the chair for 20 hours per week
for several months, the dose would not have exceeded about 6 rem.

Note that under California law, the Police could not make an arrest for
simple assault, because the Officer did not see the crime being committed,
so the DA and Police needed to convince themselves of the more serious
charge in order to obtain the warrant.


Frank E. Gallagher, III, MS, MPH, CHP  
Manager, Radiation Protection Section
Radiation Safety Officer 
Environmental Health & Safety Office
University of California, Irvine
300 University Tower  ||  Irvine, CA  92697-2725
Phone: (949) 824-6904  ||  Fax: (949) 824-8539
fegallag@uci.edu
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