|
||||||||||||||
Answer to Question #3339 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"Category: Pregnancy and Radiation — Proximity to radioactive persons The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field: Q
A relative, who is on hemodialysis, came to stay with my family for nine days over the Thanksgiving holiday. I just was informed that eight days prior to her visit she underwent a cardiac stress test with thallium and cardiolyte. Doses were 3.3 millicuries of thallium and 30 millicuries of cardiolyte. Since I was unaware that she had had these tests, I didn't take any special precautions. I was near her often, my child played with her and sat next to her on car trips in her car seat, she cooked our Thanksgiving dinner, we shared food with her, and her clothes and sheets were washed with ours. I'm concerned about what exposure my child and I may have had. What would be an expected dose rate to someone sitting directly next to her eight days after her treatment? Would there be residual contamination in my home from her visit?
A
By the time she visited you eight days after her scans, the levels of radioactivity in her body would be very, very small and would represent no risk to you or your child or for that matter, anyone who came in contact with her. Can you imagine that anyone performing these tests and working with these patients would not be doing their job if there were significant risks? It is the dose that counts, not the fact that there was a radiation exposure. You yourself are naturally radioactive and so is your child. Take care and relax. Robert Brent, MD, PhD
Answer posted on 22 December 2003. The information and material posted on this website is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may alter the concepts and applications of materials and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice specific to whatever facts and circumstances are presented in any given situation. Answers are correct at the time they are posted on the Website. Be advised that over time, some requirements could change, new data could be made available, or Internet links could change. For answers that have been posted for several months or longer, please check the current status of the posted information prior to using the responses for specific applications.
|
||||||||||||||
| This page last updated 27 August 2011. Ask Question | Search ATE | Site Map | Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Webmaster | ||||||||||||||
