Abstract
This paper presents results of 131I thyroid activity measurements in 30 members of the nuclear medicine personnel of the Department of Endocrinology and Nuclear Medicine Holy Cross Cancer Centre in Kielce, Poland. A whole-body spectrometer equipped with two semiconductor gamma radiation detectors served as the basic research instrument. In ten out of 30 examined staff members, the determined 131I activity was found to be above the detection limit (DL = 5 Bq of 131I in the thyroid). The measured activities ranged from (5 ± 2) Bq to (217 ± 56) Bq. The highest activities in thyroids were detected for technical and cleaning personnel, whereas the lowest values were recorded for medical doctors. Having measured the activities, an attempt has been made to estimate the corresponding annual effective doses, which were found to range from 0.02 to 0.8 mSv. The highest annual equivalent doses have been found for thyroid, ranging from 0.4 to 15.4 mSv, detected for a cleaner and a technician, respectively. The maximum estimated effective dose corresponds to 32% of the annual background dose in Poland, and to circa 4% of the annual limit for the effective dose due to occupational exposure of 20 mSv per year, which is in compliance with the value recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.
Highlights
Iodine is one of the elements that are essential for proper functioning of the human organism
This paper presents results of 131I thyroid activity measurements in 30 members of the nuclear medicine personnel of the Department of Endocrinology and Nuclear Medicine Holy Cross Cancer Centre in Kielce, Poland
The uncertainty of the presented results is about one sigma. 131I was detectable in the thyroid of all of the radiology technicians, half of the cleaning staff members and one-fourth of the nurses under examination, whereas it remained undetected for all medical doctors
Summary
Iodine is one of the elements that are essential for proper functioning of the human organism. The specific and natural iodine affinity of the thyroid proved extremely useful for nuclear medicine. While iodine has as many as 36 known unstable isotopes, 131I is the radioisotope most frequently applied in nuclear medicine. It was used for the first time in 1942 to treat hyperthyroidism (Seanger et al 1979). Since it has been widely applied both in diagnosis and treatment of thyroid-related illnesses. Since it has been widely applied both in diagnosis and treatment of thyroid-related illnesses. 131I is used in kidney and bladder function tests
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