Combination of liquid scintillation counting and passive sampling strategy for the determination of ¹³¹I in air and application to estimate the inhalation dose to the staff of a nuclear medicine service

Occurrence of and radioanalytical methods used to determine medical radionuclides in environmental and biological samples. A review

Medical radionuclides are widely used in nuclear medicine practices today. Their production, handling and administration have different impacts on the environment and society due to the radioactive waste generated. Over recent years authors have taken an interest in the monitoring and safe disposal of this radiopharmaceutical waste, mainly in environmental and biological samples, and consequently a variety of radioanalytical methods for these matrices have been developed. The present review aims to outline the state of the art and the latest trends reported in the literature from 2007 to the present, focusing on the occurrence and determination of medical radionuclides in environmental and biological samples. Special attention is given to critically discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the different steps involved in determining medical radionuclides in these types of matrices. The methodologies presented are accompanied by examples.

Medical activated charcoal tablets as a cheap tool for passive monitoring of gaseous 131I activity in air of nuclear medicine departments

It is well known that monitoring of radioactivity released from nuclear medicine departments is necessary to ensure the radiological safety of patients and personnel. Unfortunately, equipment for air sampling is often expensive, loud and is not suitable to use in hospitals. Our goal was to find cheap and simple system for passive monitoring of ¹³¹I activity concentration in the air of nuclear medicine departments. Medical activated charcoal tablets were used, because charcoal is excellent material for ¹³¹I trapping and tablets are readily available. Our proposed sampling protocol contains tablets preparation, exposure and measurements using HPGe detector. Different methods of tablets preparation (drying, impregnation with KI or NaOH) were tested while an experimental chamber was prepared for estimating ¹³¹I (released from Na¹³¹I, similar to that used in therapy) trapping efficiency of tablets in different conditions. Finally, tablets were placed in plastic holders and tested in nuclear medicine facilities.