An examination of 3H and 14C hand contamination at the radioisotope laboratory of a medical school.
In a field of bio-medical science, low energy beta-emitting nuclides, such as 3H and 14C, are used frequently. However, contamination with those nuclides on laboratory workers is not detectable by the ordinary hand-foot-cloth monitor, if it occurs. Therefore, a new contamination check method, hand washing combined with lyophilization, was studied and feasibility of the method has been confirmed. The lyophilization step of the method takes about ten hours so it is not practical to use the method as a daily contamination check. However, it can be done at regular intervals and it will give valuable information for the maintenance of the radioisotope laboratory.
D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D012577:Schools, Medical; D014316:Tritium / Q000032:analysis*
D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants; D014316:Tritium