A study of the performance of selected instrumentation for 133Xe personnel hazard measurements in nuclear medicine laboratories.
Past studies of others, as well as the authors' experiences in measuring 133Xe concentrations in nuclear medicine laboratories, have indicated that significant and somewhat unpredictable levels of personnel exposure to 133Xe may occur in such facilities. Previous studies by the authors indicate that most personnel dosimeters do not respond to 133Xe radiations adequately for use in personnel protection applications. This indicates the need for using some types of 133Xe measuring devices for determining that 133Xe personnel exposure limits (CFR82) are not exceeded for workers in nuclear medicine laboratories. Based on these needs, selected instruments for this application were evaluated. These include four continuous 133Xe air-concentration monitors and nine survey instruments. Responses of the instruments were measured in both normal background radiation conditions and in a 133Xe atmosphere containing known concentrations of 133Xe. Based on these measurements, minimum detectable activity values were calculated for various measurement conditions. It was concluded that three of the four continuous 133Xe air-concentration monitors were suited for general applications in indicating long-term integrated personnel exposure to 133Xe. Two of the nine survey instruments evaluated were, under certain conditions, capable of measuring 133Xe concentrations under 0.015 maximum permissible concentration (MPC).
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006748:Hospital Departments; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D009684:Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014481:United States; D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*
D000393:Air Pollutants; D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D014980:Xenon Radioisotopes