Medical Exposure

Medical Exposure

• Exposure to ionizing radiation can also result from external

irradiation (e.g. medical radiation exposure to X-rays). External
irradiation stops when the radiation source is shielded or when
the person moves outside the radiation field.
• Individuals exposed to external radiation may be described as
follows:
1) Patients as part of their own medical or dental diagnosis or
treatment;
2) Persons, other than those occupationally
exposed, knowingly while voluntarily helping
in the support and comfort of patients;
3) Volunteers in a programme of biomedical
research involving their exposure.
 Public Exposure
• Medical procedures, such as diagnostic X-rays,
nuclear medicine, and radiation therapy are by far the
most significant source of human-made radiation
exposure to the general public.
• The public also is exposed to radiation from
consumer products, such as tobacco (polonium-210),
combustible fuels (gas, coal, etc.), televisions,
luminous watches and dials (tritium), airport X-ray
systems, smoke detectors (americium), electron tubes,
and gas lantern mantles (thorium).
The estimated average doses to the relevant general public members shall
not exceed the following limits:
• An effective dose of 1 mSv in a year;
• In special circumstances, an effective dose up
to 5 mSv in a single year provided that the
average dose over five consecutive years does
not exceed 1 mSv per year;
• An equivalent dose to the lens of the eye of 15
mSv in a year;
• An equivalent dose to the skin of 50 mSv in a
year, as shown in table 2.2.
Table 2: Recommendations of the ICRP, 1981, dose limits for
one year:

Body Part Occupational General Public

Whole Body 20 mSv 1 mSv

Lens of the Eye 150 mSv 15 mSv

Skin 500 mSv 50 mSv

Hands and Feet 500 mSv —

 Internal exposure
• Internal exposure to ionizing radiation occurs
when a radionuclide is inhaled, ingested or
otherwise enters into the bloodstream (e.g.
injection, wounds). Internal exposure stops
when the radionuclide is eliminated from the
body, either spontaneously (e.g. through
excreta) or as a result of a treatment.
• For example, I-131 is given orally to the
patient in case of estimating the activity of the
thyroid gland or treatment of thyroid tumors.
• Also, to diagnose the internal organs in the
body, Tc-99 is injected which emits gamma
rays that can be traced with the gamma-
camera.
• In each of these two examples, the patient is
subjected to an internal dose that depends on
the fate of the radioactive isotope inside the
body.
 Woman Exposure

• The basis for the control of the occupational

exposure of women who are not pregnant is
the same as that for men and the Commission
(ICRP) 1981) recommended no special
occupational dose limit for women in general.
• Once pregnancy has been declared, the
concept us should be protected by applying a
supplementary equivalent dose limit to the
surface of the woman's abdomen (lower trunk)
of 2 mSv for the remainder of the pregnancy
and by limiting intakes of radio-nuclides to
about 1/20 of the ALI ( Allowable Limit on
Intake ,) (International Commission for
Radiation protection (ICRP) 1981 ).
• The Commission wishes to emphasis that the
use of its system of protection, particularly the
use of source-related dose constraints, will
usually provide an adequate guarantee of
compliance with this limit without the need for
specific restrictions on the employment of
pregnant women.
• The principal criterion will then be that the
employment should be of a type that does not
carry a significant probability of high
accidental doses and intakes. High-dose and
high-risk occupations from which pregnant
women should be excluded should be defined
by regulatory agencies.