title: Study of nuclear medicine practices in Portugal from an internal dosimetry perspective.
abstract: Nuclear medicine practices involve the handling of a wide range of pharmaceuticals labelled with different radionuclides, for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This work intends to evaluate the potential risks of internal contamination of nuclear medicine staff in several Portuguese nuclear medicine services and to conclude about the requirement of a routine internal monitoring. A methodology proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), providing a set of criteria to determine the need, or not, for an internal monitoring programme, was applied. The evaluation of the risk of internal contaminations in a given set of working conditions is based on the type and amount of radionuclides being handled, as well as the safety conditions with which they are manipulated. The application of the IAEA criteria showed that 73.1% of all the workers included in this study should be integrated in a routine monitoring programme for internal contaminations; more specifically, 100% of workers performing radioimmunoassay techniques should be monitored. This study suggests that a routine monitoring programme for internal exposures should be implemented in Portugal for most nuclear medicine workers.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, Sacavém, Portugal. joana.bento@itn.pt
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bento
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Teles
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neves
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barreto
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guerreiro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: J A M
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Capelo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parafita
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Martins
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009683:Nuclear Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D011174:Portugal; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011835:Radiation Protection; D011868:Radioisotopes
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes