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09 February 2012

Answer to Question #6315 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Radiation Workers — Pregnant Workers

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

I work with x-ray generators in a crystallography lab. I am now pregnant with my second child. I'm worried about the effect of x-ray exposure on my unborn child. What are effects on an unborn child if you expose yourself to x rays while you are pregnant? When is the effect higher—while you are at the early stages of the pregnancy (that is, weeks) or at late stages? The maximum intensity of the x ray I work with is 500 million counts per second. Although I never expose myself in a direct beam line, I would like to know the effect.

Thank you for your question. These generators are supposed to be in interlocked, shielded cabinets when they are operated. That being the case, the main answer to your questions is that you should not be exposed to any x radiation and your unborn child will not be either.

In answer to your other question—what if you put yourself in the primary beam—there can be significant skin damage to you. These machines commonly produce a beam of 100,000 to 400,000 roentgen/minute (roentgen is a measure of x-ray exposure; you mentioned counts per second, but that has no real meaning when we discuss radiation health and safety). Contact with a beam of that magnitude would damage the skin, possibly causing ulceration and leading to scarring, and that could happen in less than a minute. The near immediate changes in the skin with doses this high would likely be quite painful.

Many of the machines emit very low-energy x rays. Because of this, the depth of penetration would not be very far, so it is unlikely that even with a primary beam exposure your unborn child would receive any radiation exposure. Most or nearly all of the x-ray beam energy would be absorbed in your skin.

Kelly Classic
Certified Medical Health Physicist

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