title: ENHANCED RADIOACTIVE CONTENT OF 'BALANCE' BRACELETS.
abstract: During a routine whole body counting measurement of a worker at the Nuclear Research Center Negev, abnormal activities of (232)Th and (238)U were measured. After a thorough investigation, it was found that the radioactivity was due to a rubber bracelet ('balance bracelet') worn by the worker during the measurement. The bracelet was counted directly by an high pure germanium gamma spectrometry system, and the specific activities determined were 10.80 ± 1.37 Bq g(-1) for (232)Th and 5.68 ± 0.88 Bq g(-1) for natural uranium. These values are obviously high compared with normally occurring radioactive material (NORM) average values. The dose rate to the wrist surface was estimated to be ∼3.9 µGy h(-1) and ∼34 mGy for a whole year. The dose rate at the centre of the wrist was estimated to be ∼2.4 µGy h(-1) and ∼21 mGy for a whole year. The present findings stresses a more general issue, as synthetic rubber and silicone products are common and widely used, but their radioactivity content is mostly uncontrolled, thus causing unjustified exposure due to enhanced NORM radioactivity levels.
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Research Centre Negev, P.O. Box 9001, Beer Sheva 84190, Israel tsroya1969@walla.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsroya
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Research Centre Negev, P.O. Box 9001, Beer Sheva 84190, Israel.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pelled
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Research Centre Negev, P.O. Box 9001, Beer Sheva 84190, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Research Centre Negev, P.O. Box 9001, Beer Sheva 84190, Israel.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kravchik
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Research Centre Negev, P.O. Box 9001, Beer Sheva 84190, Israel.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: German
mesh_terms: D001417:Background Radiation; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011851:Radioactivity; D012408:Rubber; D012828:Silicones; D012987:Soil; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D013051:Spectrometry, Gamma / Q000379:methods*; D013910:Thorium / Q000032:analysis*; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis; D014915:Whole-Body Counting; D014953:Wrist / Q000528:radiation effects*
chemical_list: D012828:Silicones; D012987:Soil; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium; D013910:Thorium; D012408:Rubber