Radiation Workers Research Articles

Dose Estimation for Indoor Radon, Occupational Radiation, and Electromagnetic Field Exposure in a Nuclear Medicine Department in Turkiye.

In this study, the occupational radiation dose, radon gas, and non-ionizing radiation doses originating from electromagnetic fields (EMF) to which radiation workers are exposed were monitored and evaluated for 1 y. Using electronic personnel dosimeters (EPD), average daily radiation doses based on the number of patients and annual average effective dose results of radiation workers were obtained over a period of 1 y. Also, the annual effective dose and risk values were calculated for 8 h and 24 h by taking radon gas measurements at 2-mo intervals in the nuclear medicine department. Finally, electric field measurements were made one day a week in the selected areas. All the results obtained were compared with national and international dose limits. The results obtained as a result of EPD, radon gas, and EMF measurements made in the nuclear medicine department were found to be far below the international and national legal dose limits.

Hand Extremity Dose Monitoring Hp(0.07) Using in Radiation Workers with Procedure18F in Nuclear Medicine

The high number of activities in procedures in nuclear medicine installations, such as in the process of handling open radioactive sources, results in radiation workers being exposed to greater levels of radiation compared to radiation workers in other installations on their skin organs. Therefore, radiation protection is necessary to monitor the amount of radiation exposure received by the extremities of radiation workers. Regulation of the Head of BAPETEN No. 17 of 2012 Article 33 explains that the dose limit for radiation workers must not exceed the equivalent dose for the hands, feet, or skin of 500 mSv per year. Monitoring of the extremity dose Hp(0.07) received by radiation workers in nuclear medicine with radiopharmaceuticals labeled 18F-FDG and 18F-PSMA was carried out using a Hasto Dosimeter made by NuklindoLab with TLD CaSo4:Dy material, which has been calibrated at the SSDL Malaysian Nuclear Agency by ISO 12794. The study was conducted at one of the hospitals in Indonesia. Measurements were made of radiopharmacists and nurses during 5 weeks of monitoring; the measured dose results, namely for radiopharmacists in the range of 15 - 77 μSv/GBq and nurses ranging from 0.8 - 2.85 μSv/GBq per week. The dose received by radiopharmacists is much higher than that of nurses because radiopharmacists carry out more related activities, such as preparing and delivering radiopharmaceuticals. The estimated dose value of radiopharmaceuticals can exceed the dose limit, while nurses are less than the dose limit over a period of 1 year. The magnitude of this value indicates the need for special attention regarding safety and radiation protection for radiation workers in nuclear medicine installations, so efforts need to be made to increase shielding or increase the number of personnel, especially radiopharmacists, in the nuclear medicine installation. Keywords: nuclear medicine, extreme dose Hp (0.07), Radiopharmaceuticals 18F-FDG, 18F-PSMA, TLD CaSo4: Dy, Hasto Dosimeter.

Assessment of external occupational exposure of radiation workers in Jiangsu Province, 2019-2022.

This article analyzes the external occupational radiation exposure distribution and trends among radiation workers in Jiangsu Province. The results show that the total annual collective effective dose for radiation workers in Jiangsu Province from 2019 to 2022 was 24.82 person·Sv, with an average annual effective dose of 0.34mSv over the 4-y period. The average annual effective dose exhibited an initial increase followed by a subsequent decrease, with statistically significant differences (P<.001) between different years. In the medical uses, nuclear medicine and interventional radiology had higher average annual effective doses compared to other categories, at 0.42 and 0.38mSv, respectively (P<.05). In industrial applications, accelerator operation and industrial testing workers had higher average annual effective doses compared to others, at 0.32 and 0.31mSv, respectively (P<.001). Among different levels of medical institutions, secondary hospitals had the highest average annual effective dose (0.38mSv, P<.001). Overall, the average annual effective dose for radiation workers in Jiangsu Province remained relatively low from 2019 to 2022, meeting national standards. However, special attention should still be given to radiation workers in nuclear medicine, interventional radiology, industrial testing, and accelerator operation.

Calculation of dose conversion coefficients for radiation workers in various postures

The present study investigates the impact of various body postures on dose assessment. Existing radiation protection systems that assume a standing posture are generally valid in most situations; however, they may not be effective in assessing the dose received by individuals in specific conditions such as radiation accidents. To address this, we used the Geant4 simulation code and mesh-type reference computational phantoms (MRCPs) to model and calculate the dose conversion coefficients (DCCs) for 19 representative working postures. These representative postures were developed by referencing existing industrial posture categories, combining movements of arms, torso, and legs. The exposure geometries considered in the present study include generalized parallel beams such as anterior-posterior (AP), posterior-anterior (PA), left-lateral (LLAT), and right-lateral (RLAT), and isotropic exposures from all sides (rotational (ROT) and isotropic (ISO)), along with semi-isotropic forms of ground and ceiling contamination ranging from 30 cm to 50 m in radius. The results demonstrate that the dose ratios between a personal dosimeter and whole-body (i.e. DCCs) are significantly influenced by the body posture and the exposure geometry. Particularly, exposures involving significant body shielding, such as ground and ceiling contamination and PA direction exposures, were mainly affected by the degree of torso bending. For instance, a DCC of 2.3 was recorded for a posture with approximately 45 degrees of torso bending under PA exposure. Additionally, in a ground contamination scenario having a 1 m radius beam, DCCs ranged from 0.8 to 2.5 depending on the degree of torso bending, and in a 2 m radius ceiling contamination scenario, DCCs of 1.2–1.7 were observed in postures with 90 degrees of torso bending. These findings emphasize the importance of posture-specific dose assessments in various contamination scenarios.

Photon energy estimation in diagnostic radiology using OSL dosimeters: Experimental validation and Monte Carlo simulations

The EGSnrc Monte Carlo software toolkit was used to evaluate the energy response and estimate the photon energy based on the E3/E4 ratio for the InLight XA Optical Luminescence Dosimeters (OSLDs).The InLight XA OSLDs were irradiated with Cs-137 source and ISO 4037-1 narrow-spectrum series X-ray qualities (N40, N60, N80, and N100). The virtual OSLDs on the surface of the PMMA phantom were constructed in EGSnrc, energy response and ratio E3/E4 of the dosimeters was determined and compared to the physical measurements.Good agreement was found between the simulated and measurement approaches in estimating the photon energy with a percentage difference of less than 6%. The E3/E4 ratio from simulation, physical measurements, and microStar system showed very good agreement results with the maximum difference of 9.3% and 10.94%, respectively. Furthermore, the OSLDs energy response varied significantly at energy below 100 keV due to the photoelectric effect.The results of this study identify and address the over-response of OSLDs to low-energy photons, offering correction factors to minimize errors, especially in diagnostic radiology applications. These findings have the potential to improve dose accuracy for patients and radiation workers by providing more precise photon energy estimations, particularly at lower energy ranges, such as in diagnostic X-rays. The function used to evaluate photon energy using E3/E4 ratio has a great influence on the accuracy of such algorithms. It also ensures that imaging equipment is properly calibrated for the specific energy ranges needed, enhancing diagnostic accuracy. Furthermore, precise dose measurements are essential for maintaining regulatory compliance and long-term patient exposure records, ultimately promoting safer and more effective radiological practices.

Development of equivalent dose assessment methodology for the lens of the eye at nuclear power plant workers.

As the International Commission on Radiological Protection lowers the equivalent dose limit for lens of the eye of radiation workers, the importance of radiation protection for the lens of the eye has been increased. In the case of poor working condition, such as high temperatures and humid environments at nuclear power plants, wearing an eye dosemeter near the worker's eye may interfere with work. In addition, it would not be reasonable for all workers to wear an eye dosemeter to evaluate the lens equivalent dose even in areas with an expected low exposure dose in the NPPs. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an indirect assessment method for lens equivalent dose. The purpose of this study is to develop an indirect assessment method for a lens equivalent dose using correlation factors between whole-body dose and eye. The correlation factors are calculated by MCNP simulation results.

Assessment of tritium exposure through urine samples analysis from selected Indonesian radiation workers

Assessment of tritium exposure through urine samples analysis from selected Indonesian radiation workers

Monte Carlo Simulation of Organ Absorbed Dose of Worker's Radiation Exposure in Bone Scintigraphy

Objectives: This study examines individual organ doses and the impact of ionizing radiation sources on effective radiation doses. Methods: In the research, the ICRP-defined adult standing phantom was used as the phantom material in the Visual Monte Carlo Dose Calculation Program (VMC). Subsequently, the incurred doses were calculated by defining different doses, distances, and durations for the 99mTc radioactive source. Results: Exposure times were set at 5 minutes and 20 minutes in comparison. The results indicated that for 5 minutes and 20 minutes at 360 cm, doses remained below the ICRP recommended annual dose limit of 5.7 µSv/h for occupational exposure. Conclusion: Organ absorbed and effective doses varied with exposure time and source-phantom distance. To optimize radiation exposure, people working in radiation fields must make an increased effort to reduce radiation doses following the ALARA principles. Keywords: Effective dose, absorbed dose, VMC software, Monte Carlo

Occupational radiation dose among student radiographers, nuclear medicine technologists, and radiotherapists in an Australian university.

To become registered radiation worker as radiographer, nuclear medicine (NM) technologist, or radiotherapist in Australian health system, a 4-y bachelor's degree, or a 2-y master's degree in medical imaging (MI), NM, or radiation therapy (RT) approved by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency is required. During their supervised clinical practice period, it is crucial to monitor students' occupational radiation dose as their annual dose limit is 1mSvy-1 unlike regular occupational dose of 20mSvy-1. In this study, the distribution and trend of occupational dose among over 300 radiography, NM, and radiotherapy student practitioners per year in an Australian university are analyzed over a period of 10y (2013-22). The overall average annual effective dose was well below the dose limit set for the students. Among the three streams-MI, NM, and RT-NM students had the highest annual dose.

Modelling of constant and realistic chronic intake scenarios and their implications.

Chronic inhalation intake of radionuclides is possible for radiation workers in the nuclear industry. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) provides organ retention fractions as well as daily urinary and fecal excretion for chronic intake of various radionuclides. In this study, organ retention fractions and daily urinary excretion for chronic intake were estimated for constant chronic intake (CCI) and realistic chronic intake (RCI) scenarios. CCI is a daily intake of 1Bq, and RCI is an intake of 1.4Bq for five working days followed by two days gap. Radiologically important radionuclides such as 239Pu, 60Co, 137Cs, 131I, and 3H having long, moderate, and short effective half-lives in the deposited organ or whole body were considered. The retention fractions and daily urinary excretion of all the radionuclides studied for RCI were found to converge with those for the CCI scenario at ~40 to 200days except for daily urinary excretion of 131I.

Energy response of CaSO4:Dy thermoluminescence detector to medical linear accelerator photon beams.

The study aims to evaluate the energy response of the thermoluminescent dosemeter (TLD) CaSO4:Dy from high energy photon beams produced from medical linear accelerator. The test was performed on the polymethyl methacrylate phantom surface and at the depth of dose maximum with a source-to-surface distance of 100cm and the radiation field size of 12×12cm. The results were compared with the TLD response exposed to 60Co standard source. The results show that the TLD response to the linac's photon differs >30% compared to the TLD response to 60Co exposure when measured at the phantom surface, while at the depth of maximum dose the response is similar (< ±10%), indicating that the TLD response is no longer dependent on the energy. This implies that the current dose reading evaluation based on 60Co calibration curve should be corrected to obtain more accurate dose report of the radiation workers.

RADIATION PATIENT AND WORKER DOSE APPLICATION (SI PADI)

Medical procedures for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes currently use many sources of ionizing radiation. Monitoring patient and radiation worker doses is needed to keep the radiation dose received to a minimum. The purpose of the patient and radiation worker dose application is to facilitate the task of Medical Physicists in conducting patient and radiation worker dose audits so that they become faster and more effective. The patient and radiation worker dose application is made based on dose audits conducted by Medical Physicists by monitoring patient doses on CT Scan examinations using CT dose index volume (CTDIvol) and dose length product (DLP) parameters on CT Scans and patient doses of the Siemens Somatom 128 slice Cathlab using Dose Area Product (DAP) data on the Philips Azurion 7 C-Arm. Radiation worker dose audits are conducted using evaluation data from TLD badges, TLD eyes, and pocket dosimeters of radiation workers working at Karawang Regional Hospital. Data processing uses a spreadsheet program. The menus on the dashboard are combined with formulas so that the data automatically appears in tables, graphs, or special formats as needed. The radiation patient and worker dose information system (Si Padi) was successfully developed at Karawang Regional Hospital to realize efforts to optimize radiation protection and safety for patients and radiation workers. Keywords: patient dose, radiation worker dose, dose audit, CT dose index (CTDI), dose length product (DLP), dose area product (DAP), Si Padi application.

THE EFFECT OF RADIATION PROTECTION TRAINING ON RADIATION SAFETY CULTURE

Radiology examination in Indonesia is bound by radiation protection policy. Radiographers, as radiation workers, must ensure radiation safety during radiology examinations. A strong safety culture needs to be implemented, considering that radiology installations use radiation that can adversely affect health. Radiation protection training is one of the most critical factors contributing to forming a radiation safety culture. This study aims to analyze the effect of radiation protection training on radiation officers on improving radiation safety culture, identifying radiation safety culture before and after radiation protection training on radiation officers. This study uses a quasi-experiment with a pre-test-post-test group design, which will observe and then measure the radiation safety culture of the experimental group before and after radiation protection training by providing a pre-test and post-test. The data obtained are then processed and interpreted as a results report. From 32 respondents, it was shown that elements of safety culture such as awareness and concern, knowledge and competence, commitment, motivation, supervision, and responsibility increased after participating in training. By this study, an increase in aspects of safety culture was obtained from before training to after training with a sig. (2-tailed) value of 0.000 is lower than the alpha level of 5% (0.05). Radiation protection training has become an effective means to improve and grow the radiation safety culture in hospital facilities. Keywords: radiation protection training, radiation safety culture, radiation officers, radiation examination.

ANALYSIS OF THE EVALUATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RADIATION SAFETY CULTURE AT RSIY PDHI

Government Regulation Number 45 of 2023 concerning Ionizing Radiation Safety and Radioactive Substance Safety states that every activity related to the use of nuclear energy must pay attention to radiation safety by building and developing a safety culture in all organizational activities. In addition, radiation workers and other personnel related to the use of nuclear energy are required to support the implementation of a safety culture. Based on this, it is essential to conduct periodic evaluations to determine the risk analysis of the implementation of radiation safety in every facility that utilizes radiation, including the Yogyakarta Islamic Hospital (RSIY) PDHI, which utilizes ionizing radiation for patient diagnosis and therapy. The type of research conducted at RSIY PDHI is qualitative research using case study analysis. The research was conducted from March to August 2024. Data was collected in three ways: observation, interviews, and document analysis. The study showed that radiation protection equipment showed consistent results with the "less" category during the six months of observation. Optimization and radiation safety implementation generally received a "good" score, except in June, which showed a decrease to the "less" category. Radiation protection and safety training was consistently in the "less" category. The interview results show several concrete steps have been taken to implement a radiation safety culture. It can be concluded that, although several aspects still need to be monitored and improved, RSIY PDHI has shown a solid commitment to implementing a radiation safety culture. Continuous evaluation and improvement are essential to ensure optimal safety for all parties involved. Keywords: radiation protection, radiation safety, radiation safety culture, assessment and continuous improvement.

BEST PRACTICE FOR OPTIMIZATION AND RADIATION SAFETY IN THE CARDIOVASCULAR CATHETERIZATION ROOM (CATHLAB) OF SENTRA MEDIKA CIBINONG HOSPITAL

Scattered radiation generated during fluoroscopy increases the potential for patients and staff to receive radiation doses, so it is necessary to take optimization steps for radiation safety to minimize the risk of exposure to scattered X-ray radiation. This study aims to implement radiation protection in cardiac and vascular catheterization laboratories and summarize best practices for implementing efforts to minimize radiation exposure. The method used was qualitative and quantitative from 2023 to 2024; with this qualitative approach, the supervision activities in TLD badges for radiation workers, the level of diagnostic guidance for patients, and the use of radiation protection equipment were observed. For the quantitative approach, measuring the dose rate was carried out, and optimizing the positioning of the distance between the patient's table and the radiation source was carried out by direct measurement. Based on research data, the observation results obtained that the apron is still by the minimum thickness, which is 0.35-0.5 mm Pb for intervention, the results of exposure tests around the cathlab room are around 0.08-0.12 μSv/hour still below the dose constraint value, Mapping the rate of exposure in the work area during the intervention procedure obtained an optimal safe distance of around 60-70 cm from the X-ray tube. The setup of the effective distance position for intervention patients is at a distance of 80 cm from the X-ray tube to the patient table, which can reduce the absorbed dose to the patient by around 30%, the use of low dose mode (7.5 fps) with pulsed fluoroscopy during the intervention obtained the absorbed dose received by the patient reduced by 70-72% for PCI procedures and 25-29% for the type of CAG procedure. It is hoped that the protocol that uses this best practice can minimize the risk of exposure to scattered radiation and optimize medical exposure. Keywords: cathlab, best practices radiation protection, dose rate, radiation exposure, patient radiation dose.

Investigation on the impact of the spatial arrangement of individuals in a standing-type in-vivo monitoring system

An automated standing type Quick Scan Whole Body Monitor (QS-WBM) has been developed for the measurement of internal radioactive contamination due to high energy photon (HEP) emitters (Eϒ >200 keV). Individuals are monitored while standing on a platform inside QS-WBM at specified reference position. Instances may occur where individuals deviate from their monitoring position, potentially leading to errors in the measurement of the body content. Positional inaccuracies are estimated in three potential scenarios: lateral displacement of the individual, movement perpendicular to the detector face, and forward bending of the torso. The Monte Carlo particle transport code FLUKA is used for estimation of efficiencies for selected radionuclides across various geometrical positions for adult male radiation workers. Approximately, 8% variation in calibration factors (CFs) is noted for lateral movements up to 15 cm from the centerline regardless of the energy, while perpendicular movements from reference position exhibit variations ranging from 14 to 60 %. This study helps in quantifying uncertainties in the estimation of body content and dose, arising from deviations in position of individuals in QS-WBM enclosure during monitoring.

A Million Person Study Innovation: Evaluating Cognitive Impairment and other Morbidity Outcomes from Chronic Radiation Exposure Through Linkages with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Assessment and Claims Data.

The study of One Million U.S. Radiation Workers and Veterans, the Million Person Study (MPS), examines the health consequences, both cancer and non-cancer, of exposure to ionizing radiation received gradually over time. Recently the MPS has focused on mortality patterns from neurological and behavioral conditions, e.g., Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and motor neuron disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A fuller picture of radiation-related late effects comes from studying both mortality and the occurrence (incidence) of conditions not leading to death. Accordingly, the MPS is identifying neurocognitive diagnoses from fee-for-service insurance claims from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), among Medicare beneficiaries beginning in 1999 (the earliest date claims data are available). Linkages to date have identified ∼540,000 workers with available health information. Such linkages provide individual information on important co-factor and confounding variables such as smoking, alcohol consumption, blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and many other health and demographic characteristics. The total person-level set of time-dependent variables, outcomes, organ-specific dose measures, co-factors, and demographics will be massive and much too large to be evaluated with standard software. Thus, development of specialized open-source software designed for large datasets (Colossus) is nearly complete. The wealth of information available from CMS claims data, coupled with individual dose reconstructions, will thus greatly enhance the quality and precision of health evaluations for this new field of low-dose radiation and neurocognitive effects.

Analysis of cytogenetic indexes and occupational characteristics of radiation workers with lens opacity

Objective: To analyse the characteristics of micronuclus and chromosomal aberrations and the lens opacity in different working years, ages and work type of radiation workers with lens opacity. Methods: In January 2022, we selected 400 radiation workers with lens opacity who had undergone occupational health examination in Hangzhou Hospital for the Prevention and Treatment of Occupational Disease from March 2014 to December 2021 as research objects. To analyze the differences of micronucleus, chromosome aberration and the lens opacification rates of different length of service, type of work, age radiologic workers. Results: The results showed that radiation the micronucleus abnormality (0.59‰) and chromosome aberration (2.67%) in peripheral blood in workers who served more than 20 years were significantly higher than that of micronucleus abnormality (0.18‰) and chromosome aberration (0.31%) in workers served less than 20 years, the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The micronucleus abnormality (0.32‰) and chromosome aberration (0.57%) in the interventionist were higher than oral radiation workers (0.12‰ and 0.19%) and diagnostic radiologist (0.05‰ and 0.12%), the differences were statistically signcficant (χ(2)=23.98, 6.72, P<0.05) . Conclusion: The rates of micronucleus and chromosome aberration of the interventionaist are higher than oral radiation workers and the traditional radiologist. Workers engaged in radiation should improve personal protection and undertake regular occupational health examinations.

Analysis of personal dose monitoring results of occupational external exposure for radiation workers in a hospital

Objective: To analyze and understand the level of occupational external radiation personal dose of radiation workers in a hospital, and provide a reference for radiation protection. Methods: In May 2023, the personal dose monitoring data of all radiation workers in the hospital from 2018 to 2022 were collected, and their occupational external radiation exposure levels were analyzed and evaluated. All radiation workers were divided into radiation diagnosis, radiotherapy, interventional radiology, and nuclear medicine according to their occupational categories. Results: A total of 1626 person-times were monitored from 2018 to 2022, and the average annual effective dose per person (0.13-0.36 mSV) was lower than the national limit of 20 mSv. The average annual dose of nuclear medicine was the highest (0.36 mSv), and interventional radiology was lower (0.13 mSv). The average annual dose of individuals was the highest in 2020 (0.24 mSv) . Conclusion: The average annual effective dose per person of radiation workers in this hospital is lower than the national standard, and it is still necessary to strengthen the inspection of the wearing of personal dosimeters and the using of protective equipment for radiation workers.

Estimating Uncertainty in Actinide Intake Due to Unknown Time of Exposure

Bioassay of radiation workers handling actinides in powder form is carried out annually under routine monitoring program. In case of routine monitoring, as the day of intake is unknown, it is assumed that intake has occurred at the midpoint of monitoring interval. However, an uncertainty is introduced in intake estimation due to this assumption. In the present work, uncertainties were evaluated due to unknown time of intake of Type M and S compounds of Pu and U for annual and biennial monitoring interval. Lung and excreta monitoring methods were considered for uncertainty estimation along with the spread of ±1 month or ±2 months in measurements, at the end of monitoring interval. Annual lung monitoring is found to be the most robust and accurate method for assessment of intake of Type S compounds of Pu, Am and U when time of intake is unknown and Pu is detected using 241Am as a tracer. For Type M compounds, uncertainty was found to be higher than 3 for biennial monitoring interval. Uncertainty is found to be less than 3 for Type S compounds of Pu and U and also for Type M compounds of Pu for both, annual and biennial monitoring intervals using urine analysis. It is higher than 3 for Type M compounds of U for both the monitoring intervals. It is greater than 3 for both Type M and S compounds of Pu and U for both the monitoring intervals using fecal analysis.