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Answer to Question #102 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"Category: Radiation Workers The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field: Q
I work in a research facility and work with 14C labeled sucrose(approximately .80 micro curies each, three days a week) and just learned I am pregnant. I know 14C
cannot penetrate the skin, unless of course it spills, but I want to
hear it's safe from the experts. I wear protective equipment such as
double gloves, goggles, and labcoat. What is your opinion?
A
From your description of the protective measures you are taking while working with the 14C labeled sucrose, the possibility of you or your baby receiving any radiation exposure is minimal. You are correct that 14C,
with a beta emission of a maximum energy of 156 keV and average energy
of 49.5 keV, is NOT an external radiation exposure hazard. Typically,
the container and even the solution or other matrix into which the 14C compound is embedded will fully stop the beta radiation.
The primary concern for you when working with low levels of nonvolatile 14C is the prevention of contamination which could lead to internal uptake. To that end, your protective laboratory clothing, as well as carefully performing your manipulation of the 14C labeling procedures, employing disposable absorbent surface coverings, and judiciously monitoring your work areas and hands by use of swipes counted by a liquid scintillation counter set for measurement of 14C should ensure a contamination-free activity. You have a right under the regulations of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to declare your pregnancy to your employer. In doing so, the radiation safety program of your company may provide additional monitoring of you or suggest additional precautionary procedures. For example, collecting and counting a urine specimen periodically will provide assurances that no internal contamination has occurred. This is something you can do electively as well. This can be done by aliquoting 1 ml of urine into 10 ml of liquid scintillation counting solution and counting in the 14C channel. Be sure to establish a background value first. Bob Zoon, Radiation Safety Officer National Institutes of Health
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