title: Discharges of nuclear medicine radioisotopes in Spanish hospitals.
abstract: Given the increasing use of radiopharmaceuticals in medicine, the aim of this paper is to determine radioactivity levels in the effluents of hospitals with Nuclear Medicine Departments. The radiological study of hospital discharges was carried out by gamma spectrometry, and liquid scintillation spectrometry to determine (14)C and (3)H contents. On March 9th and April 19th, 2010, daily radioactivity levels were monitored from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Each sample was collected at a specific control point of two major public hospitals in Granada (Spain). The analytical results show the presence of radionuclides such as (99m)Tc, (131)I, (67)Ga, and (111)In.They are frequently used in nuclear medicine for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes. This study shows the differences between direct and after-storage discharges and also justifies the need of storage tanks in hospitals with nuclear medicine departments. Moreover, monitoring of (99m)Tc released at hospital control points can be a useful tool for optimizing the safety conditions of storage tanks and discharge of radionuclides.
authors.affiliation: Radiochemistry and Environmental Radiology Laboratory, LABRADIQ, Inorganic Chemical Department, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krawczyk
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Piñero-García
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ferro-García
mesh_terms: D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000032:analysis*; D013030:Spain; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive